Sloan Stephens (courtesy of Wikipedia)
A comment on the Australian Open website section reads:
"Azarenka didn't play in the spirit of the game-she faked injury to break Stephens momentum as she knew she was on the ropes and hung on to snatch the match."
There is a lot of truth to this statement.
The semifinal match between the number one seeded Azarenka (BLR)--on her way to defend her 2012 title- and the number 29 seeded Sloane Stephens (USA) began seemingly as an easy rollover for the Russian as she easily won the the first set 6-1.
Stephens missed so many opportunities to break her opponent in the first set.
Each time, Sloane was ahead of her opponent, she would commit an unforced error. Obviously, her play was a sign of nerves (and shock) as she had unexpectedly upset her tennis idol Serena Williams the day before.
As the match progressed in the second set, Stephens started to loosen up mentally and her game toughened as the teenager realized and played as if she had nothing to lose.
Azarenka was ahead 5-3 serving and was on the verge of imploding.
Time and time again Azarenka was was at match point. You could see and feel her frustration as she was seemingly going through a breakdown.
Stephens bravely had fought off 5 match points and eventually took the set.
At this point Azarenka called for a 10 minute medical time out supposedly for knee and chest injuries.
When she returned, she broke Stephens' serve to close out the match.
When interviewed just after the match, Azarenka commented that "I couldn't breathe. I had chest pains --it was like I was having a heart attack."
Was this a case of poor sportsmanship on her part?
You be the judge!
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