Victoria Azarenka has made it to another final of a Grand Slam played on a hard court.
After obliterating Maria Sharapova in the final of the Australian Open, Azarenka dug deep to edge past the Russian beauty in the semi-finals of the U.S. Open in New York 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
The world number one now faces a massive task of stopping Serena Williams in the final, after the American breezed past Sara Errani 6-1, 6-2.
The semi-final match between Azarenka and Sharapova was going to be a battle of wills as much as a battle of the loudest players on court. Having thrashed the Russian in the final of the first Grand Slam of the year, Azarenka had the slight edge. And despite going down a set, the most consistent player this year, brought out all her battling qualities to pull off an impressive win.
"I felt like towards the end of the first (set) I was kind of getting a little bit better, trying to find the momentum and getting more and more comfortable in the match," Azarenka told reporters. "So even though I lost the first set I felt like it was close.
"I had a few opportunities, I missed them. But once it finished, I kind of thought that I had to turn it around and start from zero like it's a new match."
Turn it around is exactly what she did, with the Belarusian serving extremely well, and not allowing Sharapova too many chances to break. "I think I served much better," Azarenka said. "It was more commitment from me.
"I felt like I was creating those opportunities starting from my serve, which probably wasn't really the case at the beginning. I was just trying to place it well, not really going with the serve, with a plan on what I'm going to do next. So I think that was a big change from my side on my serve."
Sharapova was disappointed to not be able to press ahead with her advantage. "It's frustrating, but it's the game of tennis," the French Open champion said. "A lot of swings in the match today.
"Certainly had the lead and the advantage, but she picked up her game. In the third I think a lot of it had to do with the returns. I didn't do much on her service games.
"She was winning them pretty easy. On mine they were quite long and just making too many errors not putting any pressure on her. So that's, I think, the most frustrating part."
Azarenka now knows she faces one of her most difficult matches when she takes on an in-form Williams in the final. "Definitely the toughest opponent there is in the draw, and being in the final makes it even more difficult," she said. "So definitely going to be a tough one.
"I mean, I haven't won in any last meetings, so I definitely need to find something to surprise her tomorrow, because she's in a great form, feeling really confident right now. She has everything on her side."
