Recent history means nothing to untroubled Azarenka

Victoria Azarenka is aiming to make history rather than dwell on the past as she prepares to battle Serena Williams for a place in the Wimbledon final.

If world No 2 Azarenka has flown under the radar during this fortnight, it is only because she has made such impressive, untroubled progress.

While a host of her rivals have been flapping and falling, Azarenka has shown little in the way of fragility.

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The Belarusian is the only semi-finalist yet to drop a set, and until a dramatic finale to her last-eight encounter with Tamira Paszek, decided on a second-set tie-break, she had not been pushed at all.

There is little question that will change today, with Williams demonstrating in her quarter-final against last year’s winner Petra Kvitova that the bigger the occasion, the greater the threat she poses.

Azarenka knows all about Williams’s Wimbledon record: the four titles from six finals in a decade of dominance shared with sister Venus.

She is well aware, too, that Williams has won seven of their eight past meetings.

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However, the 22-year-old from Minsk is not flinching as the imposing figure of the American looms.

“I don’t really like to look back in history,” she said, “because every time you step on the court it’s a new story.

“You kind of write your own history every time. I’ve lost to her most of the time. But I think we played once here only.”

That encounter came three years ago, when Williams won for the loss of five games against a teenage Azarenka in the quarter-finals.

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“She’s a great champion,” said Azarenka. “It’s going to be a tough match no matter what. But that’s what you kind of expect to have in the semi-finals. We had good matches. We had bad matches. We’ll see.”

The obvious objective for Azarenka is to carry off the title. The bonus, should she achieve that, will be her return to world No 1 status, which she occupied after winning her maiden grand slam at the Australian Open in January.

While Dinara Safina and Caroline Wozniacki have held the top position in recent years without landing a major, it would take a mean judge to scrutinise Azarenka’s performance and conclude she is not worthy of her ranking.

Williams, who has mithered over the ranking system over the years, has no doubt Azarenka is the real deal.

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“She’s playing unbelievable. I think she’s played so well this year,” she said. “Already having a grand slam under her belt is really great. She did it in such style, so it’s not going to be easy.”

Williams and Azarenka have survived the bottom half of the draw, with Germany’s Angelique Kerber and Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska navigating their route to the last four via the top half.

Radwanska can rise from third to No 1 in the rankings by carrying off the title.

This is a first grand slam semi-final, though, for the 23-year-old who defeated Russian Maria Kirilenko in the last eight.

As the higher-ranked player – Kerber is the eighth seed – Radwanska is aware she has a great chance to reach the final.