US Open women's semifinal preview - Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka one step away from finals showdown

At the start of the US Open, Ladbrokes listed Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Li Na as the favourites for the women’s singles title in that order.

And all three will feature in Friday’s semifinals, joined by 31-year-old Flavia Pennetta, a former top 10 player, but currently ranked no. 83 in the world after undergoing wrist surgery last August.

Here’s our preview of the women’s semifinals for the 2013 US Open Championships:

(1) Serena Williams vs (5) Li Na – H2H Williams leads 8-1

Serena Williams

On the face of it, their head-to-head looks pretty one-sided. Serena has won their last seven matches, six of them in straight sets. But a closer look reveals that it hasn’t been as easy for the 31-year-old world no. 1.

8 of the 12 sets in their last six matches went to either 7-5, or 7-6. Serena managed to win each and every one of them. But China’s Li Na can certainly hold her own against the 16-time Grand Slam champion. And one of these days, she is going to take a set off Serena. Will that happen on Friday in New York, is the question.

Serena has been in ominous form, dropping just 13 games through four matches. But she has looked devastating for most of the year and yet, has only one Grand Slam title to show for it.

Serena came up sub-par in quarter-final losses at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. Anything below-par on Friday, and she will find it tough to beat Li Na, the only Chinese (or Asian) player to win a Grand Slam title and the first from her country to reach the US Open semifinals.

The 31-year-old Chinese superstar has become more solid and stable since joining forces with Carlos Rodriguez a year ago, and Rodriguez has been working with Li Na to attack the net more.

During her loss at Wimbledon to Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarter-final, she attacked the net 71 times. She may have lost that match, but adding that forward approach to her game is only going to make her a tougher opponent. Her game from the back of the court matches up with best anyways.

Serena knows that too. Asked about the semi-final match-up, Williams commented, “She’s a great challenge. She moves really well. She does everything well. I think the challenge of playing someone like her is how do you beat a player that does everything so well? I’m going to have to, in the next couple days, think about that and come up with an answer to that.”

Li Na

Li Na knows that beating Serena is going to be a tough challenge too, but it’s something she is up for. “Well, I mean, at least I have two days off, so of course it’s tough, tough opponent. But is good challenge to play against her, because I think we always have tough match even in Cincy. Yeah, I still have a chance. But for me today, I don’t have to think about more tennis, you know, so just relax (smiling). Then maybe tomorrow maybe a little bit warming up and prepare for Friday. So, yeah, she’s been playing really close. Who knows? Maybe the next time we play she might want to go from close to a win, so I have to be ready for that.”

Serena’s serve and Li Na’s returns will be the key factors in this match. When Serena’s serve is on fire, as it has been for much of the past 18 months, the rest of her game seems to just flow through.

Li Na will have to put her returns in and wait for her chances. There will be few, and if she can take them and put some pressure on Serena in the first set, who knows? It might be Chinese New Year in New York all over again.

Prediction – Serena in three sets

(2) Victoria Azarenka vs Flavia Pennetta – H2H tied at 1-1

Victoria Azarenka

Coming into the Open, Victoria Azarenka was seen as the only real challenge to Serena in New York, especially after her win over Williams in the Cincinnati finals just two weeks earlier. That was Azarenka’s second win over Williams in three meetings this year.

The Belarusian has struggled this fortnight, dropping a set in her third and fourth round matches to Frenchwoman Alize Cornet and Serbian Ana Iavnoic – which may be a bad thing and a good thing at the same time.

Bad, because it means that Azarenka may not be playing her best tennis in New York. Good, because it shows just how mentally tough she has become. Champions often need to find a way to win when they are not playing their best and that’s exactly what Azarenka has done this week.

Her opponent, the pretty Italian Flavia Pennetta, who once dated former world no. 1 player Carlos Moya, has had an up-and-down season.

This is only the fourth time that she has won back-to-back matches this season – the others coming in smaller clay court events in Strasbourg and Bastad and on grass at Wimbledon.

Azarenka and Pennetta were due to play in the second round at Wimbledon this year, but the Belarusian pulled out of the match due to a fall she suffered in the first round. Pennetta went on to make the most of the opportunity and reached the fourth round there.

24-year-old Azarenka is the only player under the age of 30 in the semifinals. 31-year-old Pennetta may be playing in her first Grand Slam semifinal, but comes with a ton of experience, having peaked at no. 10 in the world before Schiavone and Errani made their breakthroughs in Paris.

Pennetta plays a steady game from the baseline and can also come to the net to finish off volleys when required – she is a former world no. 1 and Grand Slam champion in doubles.

Flavia Pennetta

Azarenka has lost only one match on hardcourts this season, but she knows it won’t be easy against Pennetta on Friday, having lost their last encounter in Dubai two years ago, ‘Yeah, that match was a bad memory there. But I think it’s gonna be different. We played the match long time ago. To see her go through the injuries and coming up with, you know, best results she has right now, it’s really amazing. She’s very good player, all around player. She can do anything. She has a great touch; great variety; she can create power; create spin. I’m really looking forward to that match. It’s a big challenge. I think we all know what Flavia is capable of. She’s been around for a long time. Very experienced. She’s been very playing she’s been in top 20, beat a lot of top 10 players. The ranking and everything, it doesn’t really matter. It’s about the moment right now. Right now she’s playing terrific tennis.”

Prediction – Azarenka in straight sets