TENNIS US OPEN – Ekaterina Makarova qualified for her first ever Grand Slam final at the fourth attempt. The Russian managed to beat former world number one Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-2 in under one hour and a half of play. In the semifinal she will play either Serena Williams of Flavia Pennetta
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It wasn’t the most entertaining of matches and definitely the quality of play wasn’t up to scratch, but this will be of little importance to Ekaterina Makarova who managed to win a Grand Slam quarter final for the first time in her career at the fifth attempt. The Russian defeated former world number one Victoria Azarenka who is still far from her best, but she has shown she is on the right path towards recovery after the foot injury that kept her out of action for the entire first half of the season. With this win, Makarova has levelled at 3 all the head to head count with the Belarusian and she has eliminated another big name after she defeated Eugenie Bouchard in the previous round.
The match started with Azarenka showing greater confidence as she managed to pressure her opponent by making her hit shots on the move, thus preventing Makarova from bombarding her from the baseline. Vika seemed to steer the first set in her direction when she broke serve in the fifth game to love, but the advantage was short lived. In the next game the Belarusian double faulted to give Makarova two break points. Azarenka saved the first with an ace and on the second she managed to contain an aggressive return, then the Russian sent her backhand long. A third double fault prevented the Belarusian from claiming the sixth game which she then went on to lose after Makarova placed two powerful backhand winners.
The sixth game changed the feel to the match as Makarova’s confidence increased and Azarenka was starting to feel the pressure of the Russians ground strokes, particularly on the second serve. In the ninth game Vika had the chance to break again, but the Russian’s serve clearly hit the net and landed in, but somehow the umpire didn’t call the net and decided that the ball was out. After some discussion the point was replayed and Azarenka missed the opportunity with a backhand error. Makarova saved her service game and then went on to win the first set by breaking Azarenka in the tenth game from 40-15, helped by another double fault by the Belarusian. After 43 minutes the Russian had won the first set 6-4.
In the second set the level of play dropped further, and after an easy first service game held by the Russian, both players struggled to hold on to their service games. Vika looked close to capitulation when she was 0-40 in the second game, but she managed to recover with a series of winners. In the third game it was Makarova’s turn to defend face a break point, but the former world number one somehow sent a return on a 70mph second serve into the net. The Russian become more confident and therefore more daring as the set progressed and in the sixth game she managed to break to go ahead 4-2. Azarenka was feeling the match slip away and she vented her frustration by smashing her racquet.
Having lost her serve, Azarenka lost concentration and lost the match with a second break in the eighth game with a forehand error. Ekaterina Makarova won the match 6-4, 6-2 in 1 hour and 27 minutes of play.
“Well, it’s not hit me yet, I think. I am feeling the same like the matches before. Of course I’m happy that I’m came through, finally through the quarters and I’m in semis now” said the Russian after her match. Makarova then recounted the second game of the second set that could have changed the match, “I remember that game. I didn’t got nervous because she played so good those all of points. Yeah, it was again I had one more break point. But still she played so aggressive and did couple of winners, so I didn’t think that, you know, I missed some easy shots or something and you get nervous. I just stayed calmly in my game.”
The Belarusian instead has a lot of work to do to get back to her standards that saw her win 2 Australian Open and reach the final in New York for the last two years. Her shots are becoming more incisive, but her movement and her second serves still need a lot of work.
“It’s just circumstances that you have to deal with” Azarenka said about her season. “I had to deal with it today, and, you know, as I said, I did my best with what I could today. Can I play better? Absolutely. Will I doubt that I can play on a higher level? No chance. Nobody will tell me what I can or I cannot do. I think she was really solid. She did serve really well, especially in the important moments. I think it gave her a lot of opportunities to make winners and everything.”
There were rumours prior to the match that Vika had suffered from food poisoning, but she dismissed them in the post-match press conference, “I’m not going to make any excuses today. As I said, I did the best I could today. I want to give full credit to my opponent. She deserves to win. She played much better than me today. That’s it.”
