Azarenka beats Stosur in thriller

Belarusian Victoria Azarenka survived a ferocious comeback from defending champion Sam Stosur yesterday to reach the US Open semi-finals and ensure she remains world number one following the year’s last grand slam. The pair, two of the biggest hitters in women’s tennis, traded blows for nearly two and a half hours in a match of unrelenting tension on a blustery Arthur Ashe Stadium centre court before Azarenka triumphed 6-1 4-6 7-6. “I have no words,” said a relieved Azarenka. “I think we both showed some excellent tennis. “We both felt the pressure sometimes, we both gave it our all and we made each other run like crazy.” Azarenka, who won her first grand slam title at this year’s Australian Open, had won her previous six matches against Stosur in straight sets and seemed headed to another easy win when she won the first four games and took the rain-interrupted opening set in just 30 minutes. But Australian Stosur, who upset Serena Williams in last year’s final at Flushing Meadows, found her rhythm after the 75-minute interruption, landing more of her booming first serves and hitting groundstrokes deeper and with greater conviction. The seventh-seed won the second set then recovered from a break down in the third to draw level and force a deciding tiebreak, which Azarenka won 7-5 after blowing a 4-0 lead. Azarenka will play either Russia’s Maria Sharapova or France’s Marion Bartoli in Friday’s semi-finals. Courier seeks ‘ultimate ask’ win in Spain New York: US Davis Cup captain Jim Courier, pleased at two road triumphs so far, says winning next week’s semi-final on Spanish clay will be “the ultimate ask” of his team even with Spain’s Rafael Nadal absent. World No. 10 John Isner, 28th-ranked Sam Querrey and brother doubles duo Mike and Bob Bryan will represent the Americans against Spaniards David Ferrer, Nicolas Almagro, Marc Lopez and Marcel Granollers on September 14-16. “It’s the ultimate ask, going into Spain and playing them on red clay, where they haven’t lost in a long time,” Courier said. “We certainly aren’t the favorites and we felt that way in the first two matches as well.” Spain will be hurt by the loss of Nadal, who has been battling knee problems for months and skipped the Olympics and US Open. Nadal announced that he will miss another two months of the season but could return for a Davis Cup final. But Courier expects a difficult challenge anyway given Ferrer being fifth in the rankiings and Almagro standing 12th in the world. “They are going to be tough, no doubt about it,” Courier said. The Americans traveled to oust the Swiss in round one and defeated host France in the quarter-finals. Should they upset Spain, they would either host the Czech Republic or travel to Argentina for the final in November. from gulf timee.