Azarenka holds off injured Hampton to advance
Defending champion Victoria Azarenka struggled tohold off injured American Jamie Hampton 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 on Saturday beforeadvancing to the fourth round of the Australian Open.
Hampton, who needed a medical timeout for a lower backproblem before she served out the second set and winced in pain, frequently onthe verge of tears, throughout the third, still managed to hit 41 winners tokeep the top-ranked Azarenka under pressure.
Azarenka appeared frustrated at times, but overcame an earlybreak and fended off triple break point in the seventh game of the deciding setbefore clinching the match in 2 hours, nine minutes.
The Belarusian didn't' help herself with six double-faultsand 28 unforced errors, but was often pushed the limit by a rival who wasswinging hard at every opportunity.
"She played incredible, went for every single shot. Ifelt it was touching every single line" Azarenka said. "She took amedical timeout but she rips winners all over the place and I was like, 'Can Ihave a back problem?' I'm feeling great, but I'm missing every shot."
After wasting two set points on Azarenka's serve late in thesecond set, Hampton had to leave the court for nine minutes to have treatmenton her back. Azarenka practiced her backhands and serve while Hampton was inthe locker room, but the break didn't help her immediately. Hampton returnedand held in the next game and needed more treatment in the break at the end ofthe set.
Even with the pain of two herniated discs, the 23-year-oldHampton, from Auburn, Alabama, went down swinging — making 47 unforced errorsto go with the winners that caught Azarenka off guard and had her asking,loudly at one point, what she could do to counter them.
Sensing an upset, and stirred by the obvious pain, the crowdon Rod Laver Arena got right behind the No. 63-ranked Hampton, who had nevergone past the second round at a major.
Azarenka had her share of supporters in the stands, too,including friend and musician RedFoo who was wearing a shirt a pink shitemblazoned with "We Go Hard" across the front.
Azarenka's potential semifinal rival, Serena Williams, hadthe next match on Rod Laver Arena against Ayumi Morita of Japan. Williams is ona roll, having won the last two majors and warming up for the Australian Openwith a title earlier in the month at the Brisbane International.
No. 14 Maria Kirilenko of Russia beat No. 20 YaninaWickmayer 7-6 (4), 6-3 and awaits the winner of the Williams-Morita match inthe fourth round.
In other early matches Saturday, two-time major winnerSvetlana Kuznetsova advanced with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win over Spain's CarlaSuarez.
On Friday night, Maria Sharapova celebrated with extraexuberance after her 6-1, 6-3 win over Venus Williams, her first victory overthe seven-time major winner in a Grand Slam.
"I was just really pumped," she said. "Whyshouldn't I be?"
After back-to-back 6-0, 6-0 wins in the first two rounds —the first time that happened at major since 1985 — Sharapova has conceded thefewest number of games en route to the fourth round at the Australian Opensince Steffi Graf did so 24 years ago. Graf also lost only four games in herfirst three matches on her way to the second of her three consecutive titles inMelbourne.
On the men's side, top-ranked Novak Djokovic took anotherstep closer to a third consecutive Australian title, defeating Radek Stepanek6-4, 6-3, 7-5 in the third round.
His victory came on the same day Lance Armstrong admittedduring a television interview with Oprah Winfrey that he used banned drugs towin his seven Tour de France titles. Djokovic, a lifetime cycling fan, said athis post-match news conference that it was "a disgrace for the sport tohave an athlete like this."
"He cheated the sport," Djokovic said. "Hecheated many people around the world with his career, with his lifestory."