March 29, 2024

Williams gets past Azarenka at Wimbledon

LONDON (AP) — Even as Serena Williams piled up aces and groundstroke winners from all angles, even as she stormed through seven games in a row and 10 of the last 13 in yet another comeback, her Wimbledonquarterfinal against Victoria Azarenka never felt like a runaway.

That’s because Azarenka, a two-time major champion and former No. 1 in her own right, was playing spectacular tennis, too, nearly the equal of Williams in every facet.

For when Williams finds her best game, she becomes unbeatable. And for her past 26 Grand Slam matches she is, indeed, unbeaten. Erasing an early deficit at Centre Court, Williams got past Azarenka 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 Tuesday with the help of 17 aces and a remarkable ratio of 46 winners to 12 unforced errors.

In Thursday’s semifinals, No. 1 Williams faces No. 4 Maria Sharapova, who beat unseeded American CoCo Vandeweghe 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-2.

The other semifinal is No. 13 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland against No. 20 Garbine Muguruza of Spain.

The men’s quarterfinals are Wednesday: Novak Djokovic vs. Marin Cilic, Roger Federer vs. Gilles Simon, Andy Murray vs. Vasek Pospisil, and Stan Wawrinka vs. Richard Gasquet. Djokovic finished his 6-7 (6), 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-4, 7-5 fourth-round victory over Kevin Anderson on Tuesday.