It looked for a while like an injury might take No. 1 seed, Victoria Azarenka out of contention, but she ended the incredible run of American upstart, No. 29 seed Sloane Stephens in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4 in the semifinals of the 2013 Australian Open.
Azarenka had to take a medical timeout late in the match due to a rib dislocation which was hurting her back. The doctor who attended her also indicated she had a problem with her left knee. It looked like Stephens might get a break like she did while playing Serena Williams in the Quarterfinals. Williams injured her back, and played tough but was not able to pull out the win. In this case, however, Azarenka was able to get treatment and continue on to win the match.
After the match, Azarenka said: “I had been struggling a little bit throughout the whole match, from the second set, my back. And it just kept getting worse. I should have, you know, called the trainer a little bit earlier before that when I got to the point that I couldn’t really breathe and had to go off court. So there was a little bit of my bad. But just a rib got locked and kept getting worse. I had to have it adjusted. I really had to go and take that medical timeout.”
Stephens responded: “I obviously didn’t get the win, but I just did everything I could and came up a little bit short. All in all it was okay… she played obviously a really good match. First set she played awesome; got close in the second. I just didn’t want to give it to her basically and just kind of worked for every point. It didn’t go my way, but I wouldn’t say at all
It was Stephens’ first semifinal in seven Grand Slam appearances. Her best previous run was the 4th round at the French Open in 2012.
Azarenka is the defending champion at the Australian Open, her only Grand Slam championship.
In the final, Azarenka will face No. 6 seed, Li Na who had a surprisingly easy time against No. 2 seed, Maria Sharapova, winning in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. Azarenka leads the series 5-4, with their most recent meeting last year on blue clay in the quarterfinals at Madrid, when Azarenka defeated Li 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
