Madrid Open: Azarenka fails to make match points tell against Serena Williams

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/may/06/madrid-open-tennis-azarenka-serena-williams

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Victoria Azarenka suffered a shocking collapse and lost three match points against the world No1 Serena Williams as she went on to lose 7-6, 3-6, 7-6 in the third round of the Madrid Open on Wednesday.

Azarenka served for the match at 6-5 and 40-0 in the third set but fell to pieces with three double faults in a dramatic collapse before losing the game and the resulting tie-break.

Williams had eased through her first two matches but faced a much tougher test against the hard-hitting Azarenka, ranked 31 in the world and who is rediscovering form after an injury plagued 2014. Both players were broken in a tight first set before Williams came back from 6-1 down in the tie-break to win 7-5.

The American looked in control as she broke in the fifth game of the next set but then lost concentration, making unforced errors and throwing her racket to the ground as she went on to drop her next two service games and the set.

Azarenka of Belarus, a former world No1 one and twice the Australian Open champion, again came from a break down in the decisive set and was poised to get the better of Williams but the tension got to her in a spectacular stumble.

Williams, who is gearing up for the French Open at Roland Garros, where she is looking to win her 20th grand slam title, will now play Carla Suárez Navarro after she defeated Ana Ivanovic in her third round match 7-5, 1-6, 6-4.

Madrid’s defending champion, Maria Sharapova, needed all her battling qualities to beat France’s Caroline Garcia. The Russian edged through 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 after fending off a brilliant comeback from the world No28.

The No4 seed, Petra Kvitova, played some of her best tennis of the week to see off Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 6-4 in little more than an hour, committing only eight unforced errors. The powerful Czech will now play Romania’s Irina Begu for a place in the semi-finals while Sharapova’s next opponent will be the former world No1 Caroline Wozniacki, who beat Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 6-2.

In the men’s draw, David Ferrer faced a repeat of his second-round match in Madrid last year but this time had no trouble crushing his fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos 6-4, 6-0. The No6 seed, Tomas Berdych, beat Richard Gasquet 7-6, 7-5.