Since 2012, 18 women have made a single semi-final cameo, including Kerber, who reached her first major semi-final since Wimbledon in 2012.
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Aside from Azarenka’s form, the two-time Australian Open champion routed Kerber in the Brisbane final 6-3 6-1 to boost her record against the lefty to 6-0.
The rankings notwithstanding, the numbers were stacked against the German. “I said to myself, just go for it today, and believe that you can beat her”. “Moving good and actually playing my game like I’m playing on practice and just focusing more on me and not on her game”.
After defeating Misaki Doi in a close three-set match during the third round 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, the German has not looked back, cruising through to the quarter-finals after defeating Alexandra Dulgheru 6-2, 6-4 during the second round before knocking out American Madison Brengle 6-1, 6-3 in the third and then compatriot Annika Beck 6-4, 6-0. Djokovic lost only one of his 28 Grand Slam matches in 2015 – to Stan Wawrinka in the French Open final – and has won 37 of his last 38 matches at Melbourne Park, a run that includes four titles. “I mean, I was zero from six before I came to court”, Kerber said.
He also believed match-fixing wasn’t prevalent during his time on tour, saying, “You didn’t have this Internet betting, all this stuff, so I didn’t even know you could bet on any sport in my time”. The women are all-embracing, unlike the men, whose Grand Slam semifinals have become an Old Boys club.
The No.7-seeded German will play the victor of the later quarterfinal between Britain’s Johanna Konta and Chinese qualifier Zhang Shuai.
Konta prevailed in a three-hour, four-minute slugfest 4-6, 6-4, 8-6 against Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova, a semi-finalist a year ago. Azarenka meanwhile staggered out of the gates hitting several errors and dropping her serve to start.
The other semifinalists – six-time champion Serena Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska – were determined on Tuesday.
“I’m so happy to beat her for the first time”, Kerber added.
The German rifled a running forehand pass to claim the double break, surging to a 4-0 lead before Azarenka managed to get on the scoreboard.
Victoria Azarenka will continue her outstanding start to 2016 with a second straight sets win over Kerber for the new calendar year. Victoria Azarenka is a two-time victor of the Australian Open (2012, 2013).
The first set Wednesday featured 14 rallies that consisted of at least nine strokes.
Kerber’s road to the quarterfinals had been a slog.
“If you just play defense against good players it’s not enough”, Azarenka’s affable coach, Torben Beltz, told a pair of reporters.
But she responded in style, breaking Kerber in the opening game of the second set to seize back the momentum.
Kerber finished the clash with 31 winners and just 16 unforced errors.
Kerber kept up the pressure, drilling the lines and smacking winners from every angle before clinching the match in one hour, 45 minutes.
“Bad luck Madison. She was injured and I’m very lucky today”, said Zhang. That’s how I try to approach that.
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Murray was never really in trouble again, registering early breaks in the third and fourth sets.
