There are three high-profile semifinal matches in Day 11 of the 2013 Australian Open. Sloane Stephens, who just defeated Serena Williams, plays top-seeded Victoria Azarenka at 11 pm EST on Wednesday. The live stream and highlights of the tournament are included in this story.
The 19-year-old Stephens topped Williams for a berth in the semifinal round. Stephens ended Williams' 20-game winning streak with her own 3-6, 7-5 6-4 victory. Williams hurt her back in the second set. The last time Williams lost a match at a Grand Slam tournament was the first round of the 2012 French Open. Since that point, Williams won at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the WTA Championship and a gold medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Stephens won three quarters of the Grand Slam in the Junior Circuit, winning all but the Australian Open in 2010. She was also the runner up in the 2008 U.S. Open Junior Tournament. In 2012, Stephens made it to the fourth round of the French Open, the longest she has lasted in any Grand Slam tournament. Her previous best in the Australian Open was a second-round match in 2012, when she lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova.
The American has had progressively harder matches throughout the open, with a 6-1, 6-1 shellacking of Simona Halep in the first round and the aforementioned win over Williams on Wednesday.
Azarenka is the top-ranked women's tennis player in the world. She is the defending Australian Open Champion after defeating Maria Sharapova in last year's final round. Her only other Grand Slam final round appearance was against the eventual champion Williams in 2012 in the U.S. Open.
Azarenka beat Kuznetsova 7-5, 6-1in her quarterfinals match. She has had only one match go to three sets in the tournament, a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win over American Jamie Hampton in the third round.
Azarenka reached the semifinals at Wimbledon in each of the last two years, and has made it to the quarterfinals or better in each Grand Slam since then. The Belarusian is 1-11 in her career against Williams, so a match-up with Stephens bodes much better for her.
The women's singles final will be on Sunday, Jan. 27 at 7:30 am EST. The men's final will be the last match of the tournament at 7:30 am EST on Monday, Jan. 28. This is the full schedule of the 2013 Australian Open.
The women's doubles final takes place on Saturday, Jan. 26 not before 4:00 am EST. The men's doubles final will be after the women's singles final. The mixed doubles final will be at 4:00 am EST on Monday, Jan. 28.
You can watch video highlights of past 2013 Austrailan Open matches here.
The Live Stream of the 2013 Australian Open is right here (Service Provider Required).
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