The Australian Open is without some star power as Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova were upset. Both Victoria Azarenka and Novak Djokovic advanced to the finals in Melbourne.
The Australian Open has been an exciting start to the tennis season, although some of the sports' biggest names are gone from the tournament, as Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova both were upset and now much head home.
Williams lost on Wednesday to fellow American Sloane Stephens, while Sharapova was bested on Thursday by Li Na, who advanced to the Australian Open finals. The men's side of the draw still had all of its star power, with Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray all still alive in the tournament.
Azarenka took on Stephens on Thursday after the Williams defeat and had to dig deep beyond her nerves, as the American nearly pushed her to a third set. After winning the first easily 6-1, Azarenka struggled with her command and eventually held off Stephens 6-4.
"Well, I almost did the choke of the year right now at 5-3, having so many chances, I couldn't close it out," Azarenka said in an on-court TV interview. "I just felt a little bit overwhelmed. I realized I'm one step away from the final, and nerves got into me for sure."
The top seed on the women's side reached the finals for the second straight year, but she might not be at full health for the championship round after taking a lengthy medical timeout against Stephens. Towards the end of the second set, Azarenka left the court to get treatment for left knee and rib injuries before coming back to play.
Stephens waited patiently in her chair on the sidelines, but her momentum was broken. Azarenka had five match points fought off by Stephens before she finally finished her off. She also dropped her serve in the ninth game which prompted the medical timeout.
Stephens had a similar situation against Williams in her previous match, coming back from a set and a break down to win in three sets. Azarenka started to lose her composure during the match, something that she dealt with more early in her career. Recently she has done better about keeping her emotions in check, but she could not keep them down during the match.
She screamed loudly multiple times, including when the crowd cheered after Stephens. Later after the match, Azarenka said that her nerves made it hard to keep breathing.
"I couldn't breathe. I had chest pains," she said. "It was like I was getting a heart attack. After that it wasn't my best, but it's important to overcome this little bit of a struggle and win the match."
Even though it appeared Stephens was slowed by the medical timeout, she said that it had no bearing on the match. The temperature on court hovered near 100 degrees, which was hotter than the Sharapova match.
"It's happened before. Last match, match before, I've had people going for medical breaks, going to the bathroom," she said. "Didn't affect me. Just another something else that happens."
Azarenka said after the match that she took the medical timeouts out of panicking after dropping five match points, prompting many to call foul afterwards.
"This injury timeout rule needs to be thoroughly re-examined,'' ESPN analyst Patrick McEnroe said. "Leaving the court for any amount of time because of nerves is unacceptable.''
The tennis commentators, including ESPN's Mary Joe Fernandez, also mentioned it during the match.
"You don't take an injury timeout for getting nervous,'' Fernandez said. "As a spectator, it looked like she was taking the time to regroup, catch her breath and try to settle down and get to a major final."
Azarenka said that she was hurt and did get treatment, but there was chance she could have toughed out the match.
"It was necessary thing for me to do,'' she said. "I just regret that I didn't take it earlier. ... It got to the point that it was pretty much impossible for me to breathe and to play. The timing, yeah, it was my bad. The game before that, when I lost my service game, it kept getting worse. I thought I would have to play through it and keep calm. But it just got worse. You know, I had to do it," she said.
Sharapova had been looking like the dominant player in the tournament, dropping only a handful of games, but Na got the best of her quickly and won the match 6-2, 6-2. Na became the first Chinese player to reach a Grand Slam final when she lost to Kim Clijsters at Melbourne Park in 2011 and now she will face Azarenka.
The crowd got behind Li early in the match, yelling, "Come on, Li Na!" and others yelling, "Jia You!" which is "Come on" in Chinese. After she broke Sharapova to take a 5-2 lead, the Chinese fans in the crowd shook Chinese flags and shouted again, "Jia You!"
Na was able to counter all of Sharapova's attacks and gave the 25-year-old Russian problems with her baseline shots.
"I don't know what happened (but) I always play well here, so thanks, guys," said Li, who was playing her third Australian Open semifinal in four years. "I just came to the court feeling like, 'OK, just do it.'"
After breaking Sharapova in the second set, Na took control and built a 4-2 lead. Sharapova tried to break back, but Na attacked all her shots and left her with no way to counter them.
"I'm happy. I know I have a tough coach, a tough physio," Li said, looking across to the stands and adding: "You don't need to push me anymore. I will push myself."
Sharapova previously lost to Azarenka in the 2012 Australian Open. On the men's side. Roger Federer and Andy Murray are set for a semifinal match, while Novak Djokovic is waiting after advancing 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 win over No. 4-seeded David Ferrer on Thursday night.
In the previous round, Williams was upset by Stephens after winning 20 straight matches stretching back to Aug. 17. It was the first time the 15-time Grand Slam winner has lost a major since the French Open, where she was defeated in the first round. Following that loss, Williams streaked through the rest of the year, winning titles at Wimbledon, the London Olympics, the U.S. Open and the WTA Championship.
Williams had previously beaten Stephens in straight sets at the Brisbane International earlier this month, but it was clear the ankle was bothering Williams throughout the match. The 19-year-old Stephens is ranked 29th and said she never gave herself a chance to win the match.
"When I got up, I was like, 'Look, Dude, like, you can do this.' Like, 'Go out and play and do your best,' " she said.
