MADRID (AP) – Serena Williams will meet top-ranked Victoria Azarenka in the final of theMadrid Open after both players dispensed with their rivals in straight sets on Saturday.
By Daniel Ochoa de Olza, AP
Serena Williams of the USA celebrates after topping Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic in the Madrid Open semifinals.
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Williams beat Lucie Hradecka 7-6 (7-5), 6-0 on the new blue-clay court and Azarenka ousted fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-4.
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The ninth-ranked Williams will play for her second title of the season. Azarenka has won four tournaments so far this season.
Williams holds a 6-1 head-to-head record against Azarenka, whose only win came in 2009. This will be the first time they meet on clay.
"She's one of the best players in the world and one of the toughest opponents to play against so we'll see, but as I said it's going to be a different story," Azarenka said.
While both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic promised to never play again on the blue clay, neither of the finalists on the women's side saw their big-hitting style overly hampered by the new surface many players have criticized as slippery.
Williams held off the tenacious Czech's seven early aces in the first set that she won in a tiebreaker. She then broke Hradecka three times in the second to cruise to her 12th consecutive win on clay this season.
The 105th-ranked Hradecka had upset defending champion Petra Kvitova and U.S. Open winner Sam Stosur to reach the semifinals.
Azarenka was in good form and had little trouble beating Radwanska for the sixth straight time.
Azarenka hit a deep return to set up a slam and break her Polish opponent's first service game, and went on to hit 14 winners and held for love to wrap up the first set. The players traded a pair of breaks in the second set before Azarenka, the runner-up last year, won a decisive third break with a crosscourt return.
"I'm really happy. All the top players are here and I'm in the final and looking forward to it," said the 22-year-old Belarusian. "(Radwanska and I) keep meeting each other. I'm glad to win today. The score maybe wasn't so close, but it was a good match."
In the men's semifinals, Roger Federer will face Janko Tipsarevic, and Tomas Berdych will play Juan Martin del Potro later on Saturday.
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