Venus Williams was surprisingly knocked out by a rising Greek player in the San Jose quarterfinals on Friday, but Victoria Azarenka’s withdrawal caused a similarly large ripple in the draw.
Azarenka, the two-time grand slam champion still seeking her top form after a custody battle, retired from her match against Danielle Collins midway through the second set after a medical timeout, during which she appeared to struggle with both leg and abdominal problems. Collins was given a 6-7, 3-0 victory.
The Belarussian appeared to first struggle with a knee issue in the first game of the second set, but continued playing with her movement relatively unimpeded. On a break point at 0-2, however, she could barely play, then called for the trainer.
She was subsequently examined by both the trainer and doctor, receiving a medical evaluation in addition to treatment. An agonized Azarenka cried at times during the treatment and appeared in excruciating pain; she officially retired at the conclusion of the timeout.
Azarenka had played a decent if inconsistent match up until that point, failing to serve out the first set on two occasions but leading the tiebreak throughout.
Williams, meanwhile, lost early leads in both sets en route to a 6-4, 7-6 loss to 23-year-old Maria Sakkari. The Greek player, 15 years Williams’ junior, rocketed forehands to every corner of the court in coming back from early holes, then redoubled her efforts late in both sets en route to 21 winners.
The legendary American had found her best form midway through the second set, and two Sakkari forehands into the net allowed Williams to serve at 5-4. But the No. 3 seed lost her serve at love, and she found the doubles alley and net far more than the other side of the court in the tiebreak. Ultimately, Williams tallied 43 unforced errors and won barely half of points on her first serve.
Fittingly, Sakkari converted her second match point with a powerful, high bouncing forehand that Williams could not reach.
“My game is getting better and better,” said Sakkari, who has not yet dropped a set and lost just one game to No. 8 seed Timea Babos on Thursday. “She’s one of my idols; one of the players I grew up watching.”
No. 4 seed Elise Mertens put in a strong performance of her own, defeating Johanna Konta 7-6, 6-3. The Briton had a sterling start, losing just one point in her opening four service games, but lost her serve at love while serving for the first set. That kickstarted Mertens’ hot streak in which she won 11 of the last 15 games.
The Belgian won Konta’s first two service games in the second set, then played aggressively near the net to convert her first match point. She will play No. 5 seed Mihaela Buzarnescu, a 6-1, 7-5 winner over Ajla Tomljanovic, on Saturday.
