Victoria Azarenka advances to Australian Open quarterfinals

Next up for Kerber is first-time major semifinalist Johanna Konta, a 6-4, 6-1 victor against Zhang Shuai.

Kerber claimed her first win over the Belarusian two-time grand slam champion, recording a 6-3 7-5 victory on Wednesday to reach the last four in Melbourne for the first time.

Azarenka, seeded 14th, had loomed as Serena Williams’s greatest title threat after marching through her first nine matches in 2016 without dropping a set.

The Belarusian was in imperious form once again in Melbourne as she raced to a 6-2 6-4 win in 87 minutes, setting up a last-eight encounter with Angelique Kerber.

The German had lost six previous matches against Azarenka and said being aggressive and mentally tough was key.

But it wasn’t straightforward against the risky Czech, who stunned third seed Garbine Muguruza in the last round to secure her first fourth round appearance in Melbourne since her debut in 2004.

He said it hurts sometimes landing on the hard courts as he chases balls other players would leave, adding “Maybe something snaps in my mind, and I just go for it…”

In the women’s semifinals, Williams will be facing fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat No. 10 Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1, 6-3. Victoria Azarenka admitted she was gutted at failing to make the Australian Open semi-finals but said it will quickly be forgotten with her game heading in the right direction.

Kerber is now trying to become the first German woman to win the Australian Open since Steffi Graff in 1994.

“I played smart, I played aggressive”.

Most recently, they faced off in the final of the Brisbane International where Azarenka prevailed 6-3, 6-1 and showed exactly why she has been installed as a short favourite to take out the crown at Melbourne Park.

Williams said she couldn’t explain her 11-year domination of Sharapova – she has won 19 of their 21 meetings overall – except to say she rises to the big challenges.

Azarenka is a huge Peyton Manning fan, but she also shares an agent with Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, who will be the Bronco’s NFC opponent. “I was with one foot in the plane back to Germany”, she said. She littered the court with loose errors off the ground, noticeably lost faith in her forehand, dumped a couple ill-timed drop shots into net, and never quite seemed to find any sort of groove. Sears had to be taken from Rod Laver Arena, where he was watching Ivanovic play, to a nearby hospital by ambulance and was admitted overnight.

Meanwhile, Canada’s Milos Raonic fought off a comeback by 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka in a tense five-setter before taking a major scalp and reaching his second straight Australian Open quarter-final, where he will face Frenchman Gael Monfils.

The pair played one of the top grand slam clashes a year ago when Azarenka fended off the German in three sets in the third round of the U.S. Open.

“I did a little bit too many unforced errors in the key moments”.

“I just didn’t commit enough, and that’s on me”.

Kerber came back from a daunting 2-5 deficit in the second set, winning the last five games.

The first Grand Slam of the season has been overshadowed from the start by media reports alleging that tennis authorities had failed to thoroughly investigate evidence of match-fixing.