Azarenka has good day Down Under
Not only did she advance to the quarter-finals, her football teams also won
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA— Victoria Azarenka couldn’t get off court quickly enough to check the score after reaching the Australian Open quarter-finals.
To her excitement, it was a Denver Broncos win.
The two-time Australian Open champion had just beaten Barbaro Strycova 6-2, 6-4 in the fourth round on Monday — continuing a threeyear sequence of wins against the Czech player that started in the second round in 2013 and included the third round last year — when she wanted to know the result of the AFC Championship.
“Can somebody please tell me, did the Broncos win?” she said, taking over her on-court TV interview.
When she heard the Denver Broncos had beaten the New England Patriots 20-18, she shouted “Yesss!!” — stepping back and raising both arms. “I’m so happy now.
“I was so nervous the whole morn- ing, I didn’t watch. I didn’t want to know the result,” she said. “As you can see I’m a crazy sports fanatic, so I understand you guys when you get all nervous and stuff, because I felt that.”
Peyton Manning’s Broncos will face Cam Newton’s Carolina Panthers in the 50th Super Bowl. Azarenka has already shown some allegiance to Newton and the Panthers, doing her version of the “dab” in her victory celebrations.
Azarenka is coming off two injuryinterrupted seasons, but is returning to the kind of form that took her to the No. 1-ranked and back-to-back Australian Open titles in 2012 and ‘13.
She won the Brisbane International leading into the first major of the season, and dropped only five games in her first three rounds at Melbourne Park.
Next up she faces No. 7 Angelique Kerber, who beat fellow German Annika Beck 6-4, 6-0 in the preceding match on Rod Laver Arena.
Kerber, who saved match point in her first-round win over Misaki Doi, is into the quarter-finals for the first time in nine trips to Melbourne Park.
On the men’s side, Novak Djokovic was looking everywhere for answers, even in the crowd.
The top player in tennis, who won 27 of a possible 28 Grand Slam matches in 2015, had 100 unforced errors after his 6-3, 6-7 (1), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win over Gilles Simon.
The win secured his spot in the quarter-finals for the 27th consecutive major, equaling Jimmy Connors at No. 2 in that streak and trailing only Roger Federer’s record of 36.
Yet Djokovic still thought it was a forgettable day. He was dissecting the match in an on-court interview Sunday when a burst of laughter from the crowd caught his attention.
“Sorry, everybody is laughing. I just want to hear, what did you say?” Djokovic said, looking into the stands. The answer came back loud and clear: “No more drop shots.”
“Thanks buddy,” Djokovic deadpanned. “I hate to say, but you are absolutely right.”
A handful of ill-advised and poorly executed backhand drop shots by Djokovic made up the most glaring of his unforced errors.
“I don’t think I’ve had any number close to 100,” he said. “In terms of the level that I’ve played, it’s the match to forget for me.”
He hit 62 winners, and won 100 of the 176 rallies of four shots or fewer, but only 48 of the 101 featuring nine shots or more. “Sometimes you have a brain freeze, if I can call it that,” Djokovic said, explaining how he wasn’t in rhythm and was trying to finish off points quickly. “Again, I won it, so it’s pretty good. When you’re playing that bad and still manage to win — hopefully it’s going to get better.”
Simon entered the match with a 1-9 win-loss record against Djokovic but thought he’d worked out a way to beat the Serbian star by consistently and desperately keeping the rallies alive.
“I know a lot of players wanted me to win this match,” the 31-year-old Frenchman said. “A lot of players will feel better with Novak out of the draw.”
Federer watched Djokovic’s match, before going out to beat No. 15 David Goffin 6-2, 6-1, 6-4.