Azarenka solid in Sydney win
Victoria Azarenka remains content to stay out of the limelight as she continued her preparations for the Australian Open with a solid 7-5 6-4 victory over Marion Bartoli in the Sydney International quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Ignoring a power failure that forced the chair umpire to shout scores to the crowd, the 22-year-old from Belarus gave a timely reminder of her title credentials ahead of the season's first grand slam, starting in Melbourne on Monday.
With so much attention on world No 1 Caroline Wozniacki and No 2 Petra Kvitova, the third-ranked Azarenka remains focused on taking each match as they come and not concerned with improving her position in the standings.
"You know, it's just numbers," Azarenka said after rallying from a 5-2 deficit in the first set to overcome the eighth seed.
"You have to go far in the tournament and get those ranking points to become No 1, No 2. You just have to win matches. For me, I'm really focusing on winning matches and improving my game. With that, the results come, right?
"So we'll see. If the other girls get that attention, I'm happy for them."
The second set against Bartoli was played in a surreal atmosphere when the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre lost power.
The scoreboard on Ken Rosewall Arena went blank and stayed that way. The video referral system was shut down because replays were not available and the umpire had to raise her voice.
"It makes it fun," Azarenka laughed.
"If it was perfect it would be too boring. No lights, lots of wind... I mean, it's exciting. It was a distraction but I think it was for both of us. I was just trying to take it as the conditions that I have to deal with.
"I was really trying to focus and find my game, adjust my game to the conditions, because it's not up to me to change them.
"Marion played some incredible tennis. We always have tough matches, so I was expecting to have another tough battle. She really made me dig deep today and lift my game, which I'm glad I could at the important moments.
"It was a great test and a good match. I'm glad to have won that kind of fight."
Earlier, China's Li Na reached the semifinals with a 6-2 7-6 victory over the Czech Republic's Lucie Safarova before facing another barrage of questions about the input of her husband and coach, Jiang Shan.
"As a coach, sometimes I was feeling he was doing good but sometimes I feel like he does stupid things," Li said.
"But if I win the match, I have to listen to what he says. I just say 'yeah, yeah, yeah' but deep inside I was thinking 'come on, I was playing out on the court, not you. You can only talk'."
The blackout affected the entire neighbourhood surrounding the venue and threatened to disrupt the night session completely before power was restored 30 minutes after play was scheduled to start, allowing both Wozniacki and Kvitova to take to the court.