In the second of the semi-finals in Doha, Venus Williams and Victoria Azarenka will play each other for the fifth time on the WTA tour. Vika is still searching for her first win over Venus. In two rematches from Melbourne, both victors in Australia were winners once again in the quarter-finals of Doha. Azarenka defeated Caroline Wozniacki, 6-3 6-1. I really thought this match would be closer than their one in Melbourne, but it ended up being even more one-sided. The match was made memorable for an overrule in the first set that saw the supervisor called out on court. If you missed all the wacky drama like me, then head straight to The Tennis Island HERE who recapped it all. Venus needed three sets against to beat Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-4 1-6 6-3, in a very similar match to the one they played just last month. Venus wavered in the middle set but stormed back to win the decider fending off a late charge from Radwanska. Full credit must again go to Venus, who has won all her matches this week in three sets.
Venus leads the head-to-head with Vika, 4-0. In fact, Vika has never won a set against Venus. It’s very similar to the head-to-head that Venus has with Caroline although the Dane was able to win her first ever set against her in the final of Auckland. I’d say Vika has been a little unlucky in some of their previous matches. In the final of Dubai in 2010 she played a good match, but came up against a RED-HOT Venus in what was a brilliant match. In their last encounter, Venus prevailed in Stanford in straight sets, 6-4 7-6(1). Azarenka is getting there… She’s not back to Grand Slam winning form as the second set against Svitolina showed. However, the third set against Svitolina was very encouraging and she is playing MUCH cleaner tennis than at anytime last year in between her spells on the sidelines. I’m going to take a risk on this one and stick with my predicted champion. It will be a tough ask for Vika to notch a first win against Venus, but her form through the first three matches in Doha suggests she has a real shot…
Prediction: Azarenka d. V.Williams in 3 sets
Moo's Tennis Blog 
I’m shocked Vika has never beaten Venus, actually. And I’ll be even more surprised if she can’t win her first set here. I’d say she’s winning this match. This court is probably her best match up, after the Rod Laver arena at Melbourne.
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Shock of what! You acting like Vika is on the same caliber of Venus. You must be nuts if you think so.
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Williams V. (Usa) 6 2 4
Azarenka V. (Blr) 2 6 6
Definitively not the same caliber.
Now, Lucie will win easily the tournament since Vika is probably exhausted.
C’mon Lucie.
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I think Venus Williams will take out azarenka. Venus moves just as well and does everything else better and that’s why the head to head is so bad. Azarenka has played Venus well a couple times and has still lost and I see this being no different.
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Venus in 2 sets, hopes she serves well and don’t over hit the ball.
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I think a major bonus to the Vika game right now is her net play, it really is elevating her game. If she can adjust to being aggressive on the Venus second serve early, which Radwanska struggled with, I see her winning this one; Venus doesn’t have the day off this time either.
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In a way,,, im glad Vee doesn’t have the day off. I don’t want her to over think this match. I am a huge fan over VEKA and glad she is back and competing but i dont think Vee is going to let this one slip by. As far as point at the net… who has 13 grand slams in doubles?!? Venus loves a challenge! This is going to be good!
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With all due respect, Azarenka could have racked up a dozen titles had she not opted to stop playing to focus on singles
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I know what you mean, but Venus has already had a big week, and I’m still not convinced she can maintain fitness for a series of tough matches when Vika will undoubtedly be moving her to all parts of the court. Remembering Vika is probably the best returner on tour, I think serving well won’t be enough in this match, and getting to the net will be hard.
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What are you talking about? Evaluate your comments to make sense.
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Do you ever do anything aside from attacking people in these comments, Jade?
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*of
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sometimes i think the girls are more intense than the boys.
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Lame. How is it more intense? Petkovic just fell over and died vs Safarova. What a cake walk. If you want to see a real match check out Ivo Karlovic vs Ryan Harrison. Then you’ll know what it means to fight over every single point never knowing who will win in the end. That’s intense!
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