BEIJING, Aug. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- As the tennis world took stock of Marion Bartoli’s shock decision to retire, Victoria Azarenka tried to put the focus back on court with a controlled display against Magdalena Rybarikova at the Western and Southern Open on Thursday in Mason, Ohio.
The world number two’s 6-3, 6-4 third-round victory was impressive.
Equally impressive was Li Na of China.
Her title defense picked up steam as the fifth-seed rolled to a 6-4, 6-4 win over ninth seed Angelique Kerber of Germany.
Before the day was done, Li found herself in the semifinals when Polish fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat Elena Vesnina 6-0, 6-2, withdrew from the tournament to attend her grandfather’s funeral.
Even after world No.1 Serena Williams closed out the action with a 63 minute 6-4, 6-1 demolition of Germany’s Mona Barthel, Bartoli’s departure remained firmly in the spotlight.
“Marion Bartoli is such a great fighter and she has a great attitude,” Williams said.
She will next face Romanian Simona Halep, who edged Australia’s Sam Stosur 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
There was nothing surprising about Azarenka’s third round match as she moved easily into the quarterfinals, despite problems with her serve during an uneven match that featured 13 breaks.
“Today there was sometimes a little bit of trouble serving but overall I felt better than I did in my first match,” Azarenka said.
In other third round action, Italian doubles partners Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci went toe-to-toe for a spot in the final eight with the 12th seeded Vinci coming out on top, beating her sixth seeded compatriot 6-4 6-3.
Jelena Jankovic stopped American Sloane Stephens 3-6, 7-5, 7-5.
Tenth seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark advanced to the final eight with a gritty 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over Czech seventh seed Petra Kvitova. while Halep continued her mastery of grand slam winners.