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German seventh seed Angelique Kerber has caused a massive upset after defeating tournament favourite Victoria Azarenka in straight sets to send the Belarusian out of the Australian Open.
The quarterfinal matchup between the two seeds began with Azarenka clearly struggling after losing the first four games.
The nervous Belarusian found herself in uncharted territory for the first time since arriving in Australia earlier in the month however, she soon fought back.
Her fight wasn’t enough with Azarenka conceding her first set all summer after Angelique Kerber’s performance was far too convincing.
The Brisbane International winner began the second set on all the right notes and raced away to dominate the set however Kerber managed a late fightback and weathered a tiebreaker, going on to win the match.
Kerber now faces off against either of Johanna Konta or qualifier Zhang Shuai.
Final score
Angelique Kerber defeated Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 7-5.
Can Victoria Azarenka book a spot in the semi-finals and come one step closer to her first grand slam title since 2013 or will German Angelique Kerber continue her best Australian Open run? Join The Roar from 11am (AEDT) for live scores and coverage.
Seventh seed Angelique Kerber has had a great start to 2016 and will be hoping that she can take that one step further and book the first semi-final of her grand slam career.
After defeating Misaki Doi in a close three-set match during the third round 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, the German has not looked back, cruising through to the quarter-finals after defeating Alexandra Dulgheru 6-2, 6-4 during the second round before knocking out American Madison Brengle 6-1, 6-3 in the third and then compatriot Annika Beck 6-4, 6-0.
The German has now won eight of her last ten matches with her only losses coming during her lead-in to the first grand slam of the year, the first coming in the final of the Brisbane International where she lost to Azarenka in straight sets having previously beaten the likes of Carla Suarez Navarro and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova while her second loss for the year came during the second round of the Sydney International after she was forced to withdraw from the tournament.
Kerber has a huge task ahead of her with Azarenka in fighting form having not dropped a single set all year.
The Belarusian fourteenth seed has not lost since retiring during a second round meeting with Johanna Konta at the Wuhan Open in September 2015.
Since the start of the new year, Azarenka has found her old form taking a Brisbane International final from the hands of Kerber after defeating American Samantha Crawford and world No.15 Roberta Vinci along the way.
The two-time Australian Open champion who was crowned in 2012 and 2013 after considering quitting tennis to focus on her education defeated Alison Van Uytvanck in the first round without dropping a game 6-0, 6-0 before cruising through to wins over Danka Kovinic 6-1, 6-2 and Naomi Osaka 6-1, 6-1 during the second and third rounds.
Azarenka was almost taken to a tiebreaker in the fourth round against Barbora Strycova however, she held on to win 6-2, 6-4. If the world No.16 can win, she is likely to face off against six-time champion Serena Williams in the final.
The pair has met on seven occasions with Azarenka taking all bar one of their matches with Kerber’s only win by virtue of a walkover.
Most recently, they faced off in the final of the Brisbane International where Azarenka prevailed 6-3, 6-1 and showed exactly why she has been installed as a short favourite to take out the crown at Melbourne Park.
They played each other twice in 2015 with Azarenka sending Kerber out of the US Open in the third round in three sets while also defeating her in the first at Doha in straight sets.
The winner will go through to a semi-final against either former Australian Johanna Konta or qualifier Zhang Shuai.
Prediction
Victoria Azarenka will continue her outstanding start to 2016 with a second straight sets win over Kerber for the new calendar year.
Azarenka in straight sets.
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