Tennis: Azarenka shocks Clijsters to reach Open final

Jan 26, 2012 |

Melbourne

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Belarus's Victoria Azarenka upset defending champion Kim Clijsters in three tense sets to reach her first grand slam final at the Australian Open on Thursday.

Third-seeded Azarenka, 22, saw off a powerful second-set fight-back by the Belgian mother-of-one to win 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. In Saturday's final, she will play either Maria Sharapova or Petra Kvitova, who are in action later.

Azarenka has now gone one step better than her previous grand slam best of reaching the semi-finals at last year's Wimbledon.

She has often faltered on the big stage, most noticeably at the 2010 Australian Open when she led eventual champion Serena Williams in the quarter-finals by a set and 4-0 before imploding.

But she stood firm when it counted on Thursday to hold off Clijsters' revival and record the biggest win of her career.

Azarenka dominated the first set and regained her composure to claim the third for a well-deserved win, collapsing on the ground in tears when a Clijsters backhand sailed wide on match point.

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