Bookies' favourite for women's title takes a step closer to grand slam glory
Fourth seed Victoria Azarenka was the bookmakers' favourite at the start of the tournament, despite never having been past the quarter-finals at a slam, and she wrapped up another straight-sets victory today, beating 30th seed Roberta Vinci 6-3, 6-2.
China's Li Na was even more impressive, the sixth seed needing only 61 minutes to see off Romanian Sorana Cirstea. She will face ninth seed Petra Kvitova, who defeated American Vania King 6-4, 6-2.
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Hide AdDefeat for world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, who won only four games against Daniela Hantuchova, again prompted questions about the Dane's ranking.
Azarenka gave a stout defence of her friend, saying: "I saw Caroline and she was upset and devastated about the loss. But she's 20 years old, she's No.1 in the world. I mean, one little slap, even if it is at a Grand Slam, it shouldn't bring you down. I think she's an amazing player."
Azarenka was happy with her performance against Vinci after initially finding the Italian tough to figure out. She said: "I think I played very well. I was serving well and trying to be aggressive on her serve. I think she also started well and it took me a few games to adjust because she has a little bit of an unusual game."
After Kim Clijsters' demise, the Belarusian is the highest-ranked player left in the bottom half of the draw, and she is confident she has plenty left to give. She said: "I think I can improve, and I have been improving from match to match, which is important."
In the fourth round she will play Russia's Ekaterina Makarova, who was a 6-4, 7-5 winner over 16th seed Kaia Kanepi yesterday.