Tim Henman praises ‘amazing transformation’ of Victoria Azarenka after Jessica Pegula win at Australian Open

It was a stark contrast to the Belarusian’s largely dominant performance when facing her good friend Pegula as she raced to a 6-4 6-1 victory and is in the last four at the Australian Open for the first time since lifting the title in 2013.

“To me, it’s amazing, the transformation from the previous round for Azarenka,” Henman said on Eurosport’s Australian Open coverage.

“We saw her play at night against Zhu and in the third set, the level of tennis had dropped. There were six breaks of serve in the first six games. But we always talk about finding a way to win.

“Azarenka had that experience, she didn’t play well [in her previous match] but she got over the line.

“Today was a new day. She comes out, here’s probably less pressure and expectation, and she played a brilliant match, beating the form player and only losing five games.”

Azarenka is in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam for just the second time in nine years, with her other appearance being at the 2020 US Open where she was the runner-up to Naomi Osaka.

In that time, she has had a child, faced several injuries and off-court problems have also impacted her game.

Azarenka has always had a powerful forehand and Mats Wilander feels Azarenka’s variance with that shot, in speed and height, proved too much for Pegula to handle.

“I would’ve thought that Jessica Pegula might not have expected this,” added Wilander. “But, then again, she has not played many Grand Slam or former Grand Slam champions in big matches.

“So, I think it’s not easy to do, but sometimes when your gameplan is so clear in your mind, and you execute at the level that she [Azarenka] executed – ‘oh my goodness, this is just working’.

“It can really help because, if she gets out-hit early on, it’s tough to keep your body language like that. She was so clear, so good.”

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