Azarenka beats Sharapova to reach US Open final

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World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, the reigning Australian Open champion, advanced to the US Open women's final by defeating Russian third seed Maria Sharapova 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 on Friday.

In Saturday's final, Azarenka will play the winner of a later semi-final between Italian 10th seed Sara Errani and US fourth seed Serena Williams, a 14-time Grand Slam champion who seeks her fourth US Open title.

In a rematch of the Australian Open final where she beat Sharapova to win her first Grand Slam title, the 23-year-old from Belarus moved one victory shy of becoming the first top seed to win the US Open since Justine Henin in 2007.

"I was just trying to grab the first opportunity," Azarenka said. "Maria is such a great player. She came out firing and didn't give me a chance to get into a rhythm. I just kept fighting with all my heart."

This is the first time a US Open women's final four has included the year's prior Grand Slam champions -- Azarenka, Wimbledon and Olympic winner Williams and Sharapova, who completed a career Grand Slam with her Roland Garros title.

Azarenka improved to 12-0 in three-set matches this season while inflicting Sharapova's first three-set defeat in 13 such matches in 2012.

An extra-long break before the third set for excessive heat helped build the drama at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Azarenka practicing with the help of a ball boy as Sharapova went off the court to cool off after dropping the second set.

Sharapova fought off two break points in the fourth game, battled nearly 10 minutes to hold in the sixth but finally surrendered her serve in the final game to fall after two hours and 42 minutes.

"I was trying not to focus on the score," Azarenka said. "I wanted to give whatever it takes. I knew my opponent was going to play hard. I knew I was going to have to play harder."

No top seed has won any Grand Slam crown since Serena Williams in 2010 at Wimbledon.

Azarenka, who will remain World No. 1 next week no matter who wins the US Open, had never been beyond the fourth round in New York until this year but will play for her fifth title of the year and the 13th of her career.

Sharapova, who will rise to World No. 2 in next week's rankings, has not reached a US Open final since winning the title in 2006 and failed to become the first woman to reach three Slam finals in the same year since 2006.

Sharapova broke in the second game of the opening set and broke again at love for a 5-1 edge, but back-to-back double faults when she was two points from the set handed Azarenka a break and a lifeline.

Azarenka held and had two chances to break Sharapova in the ninth game before the Russian found her form and captured five of the final six points, taking the set in 40 minutes with her first ace, a 107-mph blast up the middle.

Sharapova, 25, double faulted away a break to hand the ponytailed top seed a 3-1 lead in the second set and Azarenka broke again in the last game to force a third set.