Victoria Azarenka said the victory showed there could be no doubt about her desire to compete at the highest level.
Three-time Miami Open winner Victoria Azarenka battled for nearly three hours to overcome a determined Yulia Putintseva and take her place in the semifinals with a 7-6 (7/4), 1- 6, 6-3 Tuesday. .
Fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina, the tournament’s highest seed, held off a strong challenge from eighth-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece before securing a 7-5, 6-7 (4 /7), 6-4.
Azarenka, 34, winner in Miami in 2009, 2011 and 2016, had to face not only the enthusiasm of the Kazakh born in Moscow, but also a long interruption of the match due to a technical problem.
The match was stopped for 45 minutes in the fourth game of the first set due to a power outage that affected the referee’s communications and the hawkeye system.
Azarenka had to save three set points on Putintseva’s serve at 5-4 in the first set, then missed two set points at 6-5 before the tiebreak.
Putintseva dominated the second set but Azarenka found the strength to take the lead in the third, but her opponent still refused to give in, fending off match point before breaking.
But Azarenka held firm on her next serve to secure her passage into the final four and keep her hopes of a fourth title alive in Miami.
“Yulia played really well, she’s in great shape and I really had to dig deep. I felt like my legs were giving out a little bit and I lost a little confidence in myself because she was playing so well and moving me everywhere,” Azarenka said.
“But I’m happy that I was able to regroup, reset and really take a chance and go out and play aggressive and take on the challenge,” she said.
Azarenka said the victory showed there could be no doubt about her desire to compete at the highest level.
“I am motivated to compete and pursue my dreams. I’ve been touring for 20 years and I always feel like I’m getting better, it’s invaluable to me and I want to continue,” she added.
Belarusian Azarenka will face Rybakina for a place in the final.
Rybakina, at 24, is the youngest player in the tournament and she needed all her energy to survive a 2 hour 48 minute fight with Sakkari.
Rybakina led 6-5 in the first set and the match looked set for a tiebreak, but Sakkari’s service game abandoned her at the crucial moment and she was broken by a fine down the line from the Kazakh, finalist beaten last year in Miami. .
Sakkari opened a 4-2 lead in an error-strewn second set, but allowed Rybakina to win the next three games and had to save two match points.
The Greek lost the winner in the tie-break but Rybakina, who seemed to have an ankle problem, finally managed to break at 3-3 by converting on her third break point.
Sakkari’s determination allowed her to save four match points as she trailed 5-3 while holding on, but this time Rybakina managed to close out the match on her serve.
“It was a very difficult battle, as it has been before. I’m really happy but now I just need to recover,” Rybakina said.
World number one Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka and third seed Coco Gauff were all eliminated.
