Marina Erakovic Stuns Victoria Azarenka In Stanford

By James Waterson                                            Photo Credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve

(July 28, 2011) Marina Erakovic of New Zealand posted the upset of the afternoon when she outlasted top-seeded Victoria Azarenka 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the second round of the Bank of the
West Classic in Stanford on Thursday.

Azarenka, the defending champion, started the match well. Despite getting only 48 percent of her first serves in, she lost seven points on her serve and never faced a break point.

Erakovic, the World No. 121, upped her level in the second set. Although Azarenka improved her first-serve percentage to 76 percent, Erakovic won 18 points on her return and broke the top seed once.

After Erakovic claimed the second set, she raced to a 3-0 lead in the third. She would break once more later in the set, and Azarenka never threatened her in her service games as she lost only three points on her serve.

She will face eighth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova in the quarterfinal.  

In the first match of the day, Japan’s Ayumi Morita, ranked No. 50, rallied from a set down to defeat Urszula Radwanska 4-6, 7-5, 6-1. With today’s win, the 21-year-old Morita advances to her third WTA quarterfinal of the year.

Morita moves on to face third-seeded Marion Bartoli of France, who defeated Rebecca Marino of Canada 6-4, 6-3 on Wednesday. It will be a tough match for Morita, as she hasn’t beaten Bartoli in any of their four matches.