Court switch causes little problem for Azarenka

Victoria Azarenka was not distracted by an early change of scenery as she reached her maiden Wimbledon semi-final with a straight-sets hammering of unseeded Austrian Tamira Paszek.

Persistent rain meant the quarter-final contest was quickly moved to be played under Centre Court’s roof after just one game had been completed on Court One.

The lengthy delay caused by the relocation did not put off the 21-year-old fourth seed though, as the highest-ranked player left in the draw delivered a brutal display.

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Azarenka had fallen at the quarter-final hurdle in grand slams on four occasions before yesterday but she outclassed world No 80 Paszek to secure a 6-3 6-1 victory in an hour and 24 minutes on court to set up a last-four clash tomorrow with Czech Petra Kvitova.

“I’m really glad we managed to play and I’m really happy with the win,” Azarenka said.

“I knew when we went back to the locker rooms they said they were going to have a meeting to decide where we were going to play.

“I’m glad we managed to play and thank God for the roof. It is just amazing.

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“It’s my mum’s birthday today so I really wanted to give her a good gift so I was trying to play beautiful today.

“I stayed really focused and composed through the whole match.

“She was playing well and I was just better at the important moments.”

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