Australian Open 2013 - Azarenka escapes upset bid



Azarenka given a major scare

Australian Open 2013  Day 6 - Azarenka escapes upset bid

Unintentionally again showing my bias towards women's tennis - one of the major surprises and stories from day 6 at Melbourne Park was a serious scare for reigning champion Victoria Azarenka against World No.63 Jamie Hampton.



Having seen Hampton comfortably dispatched in the second round at Wimbledon last year by Heather Watson I was not expecting too much from the 22 year-old American against the World No.1 on the Rod Laver Arena.  How wrong I was.

Hampton was hugely impressive

When Azarenka raced into an early 5-1 lead it looked like it would be business as usual for the Belarusian. 

However Hampton suddenly came alive and began cracking fantastic forehand winners all over the court - she finished the match with 27.  Her serving improved and she started trading crosscourt backhands with aplomb.

She broke the top seed as Azarenka served for the set, before being broken herself in the tenth game. 

The second set began with three consecutive breaks and it was Hampton who stayed ahead once she got her nose in front.

She missed two set points in the ninth game, in which she tweaked a serious back injury, and a medical timeout followed before the American came to serve for the set at 5-4. 

With the injury I expected the valiant effort to fade out and Azarenka to come through 4&5.  But the American, by now obviously in pain, continued to go for her big forehand and levelled the contest.



When Hampton broke to lead 2-1 in the decider a massive upset seemed possible and yet the American was wincing with every shot and the World No.1 could see this.

The reigning champion broke back and started to wear the fading Hampton down with some impressive down-the-line strikes.

Azarenka pulled through in the end 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to reach the last 16 and keep alive her hopes both of retaining her title and maintaining the No.1 ranking.  She must at least reach the final to have a chance of keeping the top spot after the tournament.

Hampton's improvement since Wimbledon has been significant and she is going to be a fixture in the top 50 very soon on this evidence of this performance.  Hopefully her back problems will not hinder her progress too much for the rest of the season.

There is also a Men's event taking place in Melbourne which will receive plenty of coverage from tomorrow!

Follow me on Twitter @TennisCJD