TOKYO: World No.1 Victoria Azarenka pulled out of the Pan Pacific Open citing chronic fatigue while Maria Sharapova was stunned by Samantha Stosur as the event lost its top two seeds yesterday.
French Open champion Sharapova, Tokyo winner in 2005 and 2009, was upset by Australian Stosur 6-4, 7-6 in a quarterfinal filled with drama and high-quality tennis.
Azarenka withdrew before her quarterfinal with German Angelique Kerber, having come into the WTA premier five event complaining of health issues.
The Belarusian, who won this year’s Australian Open and reached the final of the US Open earlier this month, struggled to complete her third round match the previous day.
“Before the tournament I wasn’t feeling very good,” said Azarenka, who had her blood pressure checked during Wednesday’s win over Roberta Vinci.
“I had low energy. I wasn’t myself. It wasn’t possible today. Maybe it was tiredness from the whole season. I need to have some tests. It’s a little bit unknown what it is.” Stosur next faces Russian Nadia Petrova, who ousted sixth seed Sara Errani 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 after battling back from a set and 4-1 down against her Italian opponent.
Eighth seed Stosur had won just one of her previous 11 meetings with Sharapova but seized the initiative by taking the first set when the Russian blasted a backhand long.
The Australian was taken to a tiebreak in the second after leading 5-3 but won a nail-biter 12-10 on her fifth match point after a wild forehand from Sharapova.
“When you don’t take a few (chances) in a row you don’t know what’s going to happen,” said 2011 US Open champion Stosur. “I just kept trying to go for it and thankfully it paid off.” Sharapova was philosophical in defeat.
“She had the chance to win the match easily but I made it tough for her,” said the London Olympic silver medalist. “I had my fair share of chances in the tiebreak.
“One point here, one point there — it just didn’t go my way. I can play a lot better tennis than I have this week.” Following her walkover, fifth seed Kerber will face defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska in the semi-finals of the hardcourt event.
Pole Radwanska overpowered 10th seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-3 in the day’s last quarterfinal.
Azarenka pulls out; Sharapova upset in Tokyo
Azarenka pulls out; Sharapova upset in Tokyo
Sabalenka says ‘Battle of the Sexes’ pays off after ruthless win
- Aryna Sabalenka said her much-maligned exhibition match against Nick Kyrgios had paid dividends as she demolished Cristina Bucsa on Tuesday to launch her Australian Open preparations
BRISBANE: Aryna Sabalenka said her much-maligned exhibition match against Nick Kyrgios had paid dividends as she demolished Cristina Bucsa on Tuesday to launch her Australian Open preparations.
The world number one took just 48 minutes to dispose of the Spaniard 6-0, 6-1 in the second round of the season-opening Brisbane International.
The ease of the win against the world number 50 will send a warning to the Belarusian’s rivals ahead of the Australian Open starting January 18.
She raced through the first set in just 22 minutes and took only 26 minutes to claim the second against an opponent who had no answer to the power of the 27-year-old.
Sabalenka said the fact that she played so well in her first match of the season showed that the December 28 exhibition in Dubai against the mercurial but controversial Kyrgios was worthwhile.
“I mean, when you play against a guy, the intensity is completely different,” she said.
“Especially when there is Nick, who is drop-shotting every other shot, so you move a lot, so there was a great fitness for me.
“And today I was, like, whew, let’s move around, you know.
“That exhibition, it was fun. It was a great challenge,” she added.
“I think we brought so many eyes on tennis. It wasn’t about proving something to anyone, it was able to show that tennis can be really huge.”
Sabalenka will now play either Jelena Ostapenko or Sorana Cirstea in the third round and remains on track to meet Madison Keys in the quarter-finals in a rematch of last year’s Australian Open final, won by the American.
Keys reached the Brisbane third round with a 6-4, 6-3 win over fellow American McCartney Kessler.
Like Sabalenka, Keys had a bye into the second round and said she had found it tough to find her rhythm early on.
“I think it’s sometimes a little bit harder when the person you’re playing has already played a match, and then you’re kind of trying to still knock off a bit of the rust,” she said.
“I felt like it took a little bit just to find my rhythm, but I feel like once I did it, I kind of settled in a little bit better.”
There were two major upsets in the men’s draw with second-seeded Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Canada’s fifth seed, Denis Shapovalov both losing.
American Brandon Nakashima downed Davidovich Fokina 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 while Belgian qualifier Raphael Collignon beat Shapovalov 6-4, 6-2.
