Stage Set for Explosive Semifinals at Qatar Total Open

Doha, February 18 (QNA) - The stage is set for the semi-finals of the Qatar Total Open after five intense days of high quality tennis. One of the players to qualify for the semifinals is world No.1 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus. The top seed easily Friday packed off unseeded Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium in straight sets. Azarenka - who is unbeaten in 15 matches this season - sealed the one-sided match 6-0, 6-4 in only 68 minutes on the Centre Court. The Minsk-born right-hander fired three aces in the match that she dominated from the first serve. Azarenka - the Australian Open champion - broke a nervous-looking Wickmayer in games 1, 3 and 5 to win the first set in just 20 minutes. Serving with precision, Azarenka gleefully accepted 11 unforced errors from Wickmayer in the first set. In the second set, both player traded a service break each - in games 5 (Azarenka) and 6 (Wickmayer) to draw level at 3-all. Azarenka relied on a strong baseline game for her second service break in game 9 to go 5-4 up. A long return on match point gave Azarenka her 15th consecutive win this season. "I am always trying to do my best on court," Azarenka said. "I am glad to be at a level where I can dominate on court. I am playing good tennis at the moment," Qatar Olympic Committee website quoted her as saying. Also Friday, third seed Samantha Stosur of Australia reached the semifinals of the Qatar Total Open with a three-set win over unseeded Monica Niculescu of Romania. Stosur, the US Open champion, won 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 in one hour 44 minutes on Centre Court. The Australian wasted little time in winning the first set, easily dominating her 24-year-old rival still without a title on Tour. Stosur combined her strong serves with a sound baseline game to break Niculescu in games two and four to race away to a 5-1 lead. The Romanian broke Stosur in game 7 when the Australian sent two easy returns long at 30-all. In the second set, Niculescu rallied in fine style, breaking 27-year-old Stosur in the first game and then later in game 5 to walk off with a 6-2 card to tie the match. The Romanian surprised Stosur with strong first serves to pocked the second set. In the decider, Stosur broke the Romanian in games 2 and 8 and then held serve in game 9 to win the third set 6-3. The Australian sealed victory with a powerful forehand on match point. "It was an up and down match for both of us," Stosur said after qualifying for her first semifinal of the year. "We ran a lot and I was fortunate to pick up my game at the end of second set. I think my serves also picked up at the end and I finished off strongly. I believed in myself. I backed myself to win this match," the 2011 US Open champion added. It was Stosur's third win over Niculescu in as many meetings on the WTA Tour. Stosur fired seven aces in the match. (QNA)