On the court at Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday night, Victoria Azarenka 바카라 the athlete 바카라 displayed the same confident brand of take-the-ball-early, hard-hitting tennis that carried her to two Australian Open titles and the No. 1 ranking a decade ago.
That was responsible, in part, for the way she beat No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula 6-4, 6-1 to return to the semifinals at Melbourne Park for the first time since those triumphs in 2012 and 2013.
After the match, Victoria Azarenka 바카라 the person 바카라 opened up about how, away from the court in recent months, she managed to learn a new mindset by, in her words, 바카라Trying to be neutral, not to go negative; accepting the anxiety that I have; accepting the fear that I have.바카라
And that, too, she explained, allowed her to deal with a fear of failure and play once again to the very best of her considerable abilities, which she certainly did against Pegula, who hadn바카라t dropped a set in the tournament and ceded only 18 games through four matches until Tuesday.
The two 바카라 her professional and personal lives 바카라 바카라are definitely connected,바카라 Azarenka said.
바카라I don바카라t think that one goes without the other. I feel like a tennis court 바카라 probably for everybody, but for me, especially 바카라 triggers a lot of those fears, a lot of anxiety,바카라 she continued. 바카라It바카라s kind of like an open canvas. When everything comes there at a high-pressure moment, high-stress moment, weird emotions come on the court. Sometimes, like, 바카라What ... are you thinking about on the court?바카라바카라
A key turning point, one that helped her realize she needed to confront what was bothering her, came when she broke a few rackets after a loss at a tournament in October.
바카라I don바카라t think you recognize it right away. I think it builds up until you hit kind of a pretty bad spot where nothing kind of makes sense. You feel kind of lost,바카라 Azarenka said. 바카라I was at the point where I couldn바카라t find anything that I feel good about myself. Not like even one sentence.바카라
The No. 24-seeded Azarenka바카라s semifinal opponent will be No. 22 Elena Rybakina, the reigning Wimbledon champion, who defeated 2017 French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-4.
Rybakina 바카라 who was born in Moscow but has represented Kazakhstan since 2018 because it offered to fund her tennis career 바카라 hit 11 aces to take her tournament-leading total to 35.1
In men바카라s action, Karen Khachanov reached his first semifinal at Melbourne Park 바카라 and made his second consecutive trip to the final four at a Grand Slam tournament, following his run at the U.S. Open last September 바카라 when 22-year-old American Sebastian Korda stopped playing in the third set because of an injured right wrist while trailing 7-6 (5), 6-3, 3-0.
Khachanov will face either No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece or unseeded Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic for a berth in the men바카라s final.
A three-time runner-up at the U.S. Open, most recently in 2020, Azarenka has always played most effectively on hard courts, and that showed again on this evening. She repeatedly got the better of lengthy exchanges of forehands and backhands; Pegula made eight of the match바카라s first 10 unforced errors.
After some misses, Pegula would sigh, roll her eyes, slump her shoulders. She often looked into the stands at her coach, Davis Witt, to say something, including one exclamation about the ball speed: 바카라It바카라s so ... slow!바카라
바카라Just made it tough for me to feel like I could really pressure her,바카라 Pegula said. 바카라Felt like she was pressuring me constantly.바카라
Pegula, a 28-year-old from New York, was playing in the quarterfinals in Melbourne for the third year in a row but fell to 0-5 for her career at that stage in Grand Slam tournaments, with each loss in straight sets. Her parents own the NFL바카라s Buffalo Bills, and Pegula wore a patch on her skirt during matches with the No. 3, the jersey number of player Damar Hamlin, who collapsed on the field during a game on Jan. 2.
Her exit Tuesday leaves No. 5 Aryna Sabalenka as the lone top-20 woman still in the bracket. On Wednesday, Sabalenka will play unseeded Donna Vekic in the quarterfinals, while No. 30 Karolina Pliskova faces unseeded Magda Linette.
Now 33 and a mother 바카라 she walked into the stadium wearing a jersey from Paris Saint-Germain, the favorite soccer team of her son, Leo 바카라 Azarenka, who is from Belarus, delivered big shot after big shot, raced to a 3-0 lead in 12 minutes, and never really let Pegula, a good friend, into the match.
바카라Leo doesn바카라t really care so much that I바카라m playing here. ... Obviously, he is watching some matches, but he definitely wants his mom to be home,바카라 Azarenka said. 바카라So a few more days here, and I바카라ll be back.바카라
Might make the trip with a trophy in tow if she keeps playing like this.
