Melbourne, Jan 24: Victoria Azarenka overcame some anxiety, a sore left knee, and a slew of frustrating forehand errors before defeating American teenager Sloane Stephens to reach the Australian Open final against Li Na.
For the second time in two days, 19-year-old Stephens sat patiently on a courtside chair during a medical timeout by an experienced, older player late in the second set.
On Thursday, the top-seeded Azarenka asked for a medical timeout after wasting five match points with a sequence of forehand errors but returned to quickly finish off a 6-1, 6-4 win on her sixth match point. It had been a different outcome Wednesday, when Stephens rallied from a set and a break down to beat an injured Serena Williams in three sets.