Victoria Azarenka is so composed despite being a sitting target

Second seed has brushed past her rivals with ease and is comfortable with the fact she is now the woman to beat

3 July 2012

In a brief lowering of her guard at Wimbledon, Victoria Azarenka made the rare admission of a personal foible. “I’m so scared of the dark,” she said.

How her rivals must wish they could play her while shrouded in blackness, because the tall Belarusian is powering through the women’s singles as though nothing else can affect a steely resolve to add the Wimbledon title to her Australian Open trophy.

Certainly nobody on the opposing side of the court has troubled Azarenka so far. At No2 the highest seed to survive through to today’s quarter-finals following the straight-sets dismissal of Maria Sharapova by Sabine Lisicki, she has yet to drop a set and has conceded just 14 games.

Not even the sight of feathers floating to the Centre Court grass yesterday, after a wayward pigeon had flown into the roof, could distract the 22-year-old from a 6-1, 6-0 romp over former French Open title holder Ana Ivanovic who had no answer to her rival’s crashing groundstrokes and generally error-free game.

In fact, not much phases Azarenka. “Sometimes it can be annoying when somebody is chewing chips right where you’re serving but it doesn’t really matter, you just have to stay focused on your game,” she said. “Whatever is going on around you is out of your hands. The feathers? It was fun.”

So no sympathy for the poor bird, just as there was likely to be little sympathy on No1 court for Tamira Paszek, the unseeded Austrian who stands between Azarenka and a potential second successive semi-final appearance against Petra Kvitova, the defending champion. Paszek, ranked No37, will no doubt come to the match buoyed by her title triumph on grass in Eastbourne 10 days ago. But she will also remember that the two women met at this stage of Wimbledon last summer when an untroubled Azarenka cruised through 6-3, 6-1.

Despite that result, Azarenka said: “She’s a very good baseliner. She has very clean shots. They’re deep, penetrating, and she’s a good mover. For sure, she’s a very dangerous opponent. She’s definitely been showing some amazing results. It’s obvious it will be a tough match.”

Really? You rather doubt, for all her fear of the dark, that Azarenka kept her bedroom light on last night for fear of Paszek-induced nightmares. Indeed, nothing seems to move her.

Ask Azarenka about that impressive statistic of conceding only 14 games thus far and she shrugs: “Not counting, sorry. Really not counting, just taking it one at a time.”

What about the growing pressure to perform, especially as it is possible she could reclaim her No1 world ranking from Sharapova come Monday morning?

Azarenka replied: “When you’re on top, everybody wants to beat you. You always have that baggage to carry with you. But that’s the position where you want to be, that’s why you work hard. It’s just the situation, and you deal with it. I don’t look for perfection every day. I just try to do my best when I go on court.”

Lisicki tends to wear her heart on her sleeve a little more, the 15th seed gradually gathering an army of Wimbledon friends charmed by her beaming smile and delighted about the emotion she displayed upon dispatching Sharapova.

The 22-year-old also brings a welcome brand of aggression to the court, and that will be vital on Centre Court against eighth seed Angelique Kerber in a match marking the first time two Germans have reached the women’s quarter-finals since Steffi Graf and Claudia Kode-Kilsch in 1987.

Kerber, the 24-year-old who clinically brought down the curtain on the Wimbledon career of four-times Grand Slam winner Kim Clijsters for the loss of just two games yesterday, said: “It won’t be easy against Sabine. She beat Maria, and I know she plays very well on grass. She has a good serve and plays very aggressively. But so do I.”

It had the promise of a heavyweight bout. Lisicki said: “I think on grass you have to have a good serve, and that’s what I have. It gives you a great advantage. I like to be aggressive in general, playing aggressive tennis, which is why grass suits me well. I like to move on it.

“Also, the atmosphere here is just amazing. All the traditions make me feel very comfortable.”

That was apparent against Sharapova, the Russian fresh from her triumph at Roland Garros. Lisicki recalled: “A soon as I stepped on court against Maria I felt confident. It was amazing. I mean, she won the French Open. Actually, that’s a good omen for me because I’d beaten the French Open champion three times here.

“In 2009 I beat Svetlana Kuznetsova, last year Li Na, and now this year Maria. I guess they shouldn’t be in my part of the draw!”

Victoria Azarenka is so composed despite being a sitting target

Read More