Agencies
MELBOURNE, January 26
Pint-sized Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova brought a spectacular end to Victoria Azarenka’s mission to win another Australian Open and to re-establish herself in the upper echelon of women’s tennis.
Pulverised in the opening set by the aggressive and hard hitting Cibulkova, the Belarussian quickly swept aside the woes of her 6-2 first set loss to put herself back in the match with a 3-6 win in the second.
However Cibulkova regained the upper hand from the back of the court in the third set and sealed a place in the quarter-finals by claiming the set 6-3 in a high quality contest.Unseeded because of her lack of tennis last year through injury, Azarenka took control of the second set under the Rod Laver roof with the same aggression as she encountered from the other end of the net in the opening set against an opponent who never gave her a chance to build any momentum.
As quickly as Azarenka looked down and out, she began blasting the ball with her trademark strength as she suddenly hit winners with much-needed changes to her game, especially her approach to the net.
Cibulkova, last year’s Open runner-up to Li Na, began to reproduce her mojo from the first set with some powerful hitting and her ability to be able to wrong-foot Azarenka who took the first two games of the third set.
The deciding set was level at 3-3 before Cibulkova marched to glory, twice breaking Azarenka to take the match in two hours and 10 minutes.
Cibulkova, who is only 160cm, said she made up for her lack of height with aggression, energy and an ability to hit winners (she blasted 44 winners for the match).
“I like to be aggressive and fight for every ball,” she said.
Cibulkova said that in the second set Azarenka kept her behind the baseline more when she started to serve and return better.
“Then in the third set I just knew I have to go for it more than hundred per cent,” she said.
“I knew I have to be much more aggressive and just stay there and to go for my shots. So, yeah, today was really, really tough one, but I managed to get through. It was such a good match.”
Azarenka rated her own performance as “progress.”
“I think there are a lot of the positive things to take from here,” she said.
“It’s a good start. There was some good quality of tennis today, even though the result is not the one that I wanted and not what I was looking for.”
Victoria Azarenka said she needed to be realistic and keep working to sharpen her game.
“I need to be more consistent and I need to be able to take my opportunities when I have them,” she said.
“But overall, I can be pretty happy. But I’m such a perfectionist that I don’t want to be satisfied.”
Azarenka was full of praise for Cibulkova, saying she went for her shots and was fearless for the whole match.
“She’s the type of player that sometimes ... she gets in that groove and it’s a little bit difficult to break that rhythm,” she said.
“But I think I still had my opportunities ... I wasn’t present enough today, and she was there. She jumped on those opportunities and really took control of that. So I think in that aspect, I have to give her a lot of credit.”
Agencies
Melbourne, January 26
Top seed Serena Williams staged a barnstorming comeback to reach the Australian Open quarterfinals on Monday, defeating Spain's Garbine Muguruza in a three-set dogfight.
The American 18-time Grand Slam champion beat the 24th seed 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 to set up a final eight clash with last year's finalist Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, seeded 11.
Williams, 33, is chasing her sixth Australian title and could lose her coveted number one ranking if she fails.
But the lacklustre starts that have plagued her this year at Melbourne Park continued against the highly rated Spanish 21-year old, who seized her chance and took the first set.
"I didn't start out so well and she did everything she needed to do in the first set, so I just decided to do my best, stay focused and relax," Williams said.
Muguruza went into the match with a 1-1 record against Williams, including bouncing her from last year's French Open, and showed no signs of nerves against the world number one.
Yelling "c'mon Serena, play better", Williams struggled for consistency, sending down two aces but committing two crucial unforced errors when she conceded a second break that gifted Muguruza the first set.
An early break in the second set was squandered when Muguruza broke back and again refused to buckle as Williams hammered away at her serve.
The American's persistence finally paid off and she broke Muguruza then belted down three straight aces to force a deciding set in style.
But she blew three break points in the opening game of the third, telling herself "relax, relax" after shanking a forehand wide.
It was then Williams' turn to come under pressure, surviving six break points in a game that stretched almost 15 minutes, then comfortably breaking the Spaniard in the next.
It proved a turning point, with the dispirited Muguruza offering little further resistance as Williams wrapped up the match in exactly two hours.
AP
MELBOURNE, January 26
A fan cried out some advice that Serena Williams says helped her win a very tough fourth-round match.
The No. 1-ranked Williams was down a set and trying to find a solution — when she heard a voice.
"Someone in the crowd was like, 'Come on Serena use spin!' and I was like, 'OK,'" Williams said after coming back 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 to beat Garbine Muguruza and reach the Australian Open quarterfinals.
"There's coaches everywhere out here! Thank you guys, you really helped me," Williams said during her on-court interview after the match.
The 18-time Grand Slam winner scanned the stands of Rod Laver Arena where she recalled hearing the voice and then pointed to someone in the crowd: "It was you? Thank you. Thank you!"
The interviewer, retired Australian player Rennae Stubbs, then suggested she give the fan a cut of the prize money.
"Five percent?" asked Stubbs.
Williams laughed off the suggestion. "Come on Renee!"
