DHAKA: Two-time defending champion Victoria Azarenka is out of the Australian Open after she was beaten in a thrilling quarter-final by Agnieszka Radwanska.
The second seed had won her previous 12 sets against Radwanska but the Pole started superbly, racing into a 5-0 lead before taking the first set, reports BBC.
Azarenka responded to claim the second but the fifth seed hit top form again in the decider to win 6-1 5-7 6-0.
Dominika Cibulkova awaits in the semi-finals after she thrashed Simona Halep.
Azarenka`s defeat - the end of an 18-match winning run at Melbourne Park dating back to 2012 - means the top three seeds are out of the women`s draw after Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova were beaten earlier in the tournament.
Radwanska has suffered defeats in the quarter-finals of this event in the last three years, but she set about overturning the odds in style, producing some of the best tennis of her career to dominate from the outset.
Radwanska reached the semi-finals in Melbourne for the first time
She looked to have the match in her control when she went a break up midway through the second set, but Azarenka showed all her battling qualities to hit back immediately before breaking decisively as her opponent served to stay in the set.
The momentum seemed to have shifted towards the Belarusian, but Radwanska rediscovered her first-set form, producing a series of jaw-dropping winners to reach the last four.
"She was getting to every ball," said Azarenka. "She guessed so many of my shots and I felt like at one point I was being too predictable.
"She definitely took advantage of that. She was solid from the baseline, she came in when she needed to, she served well in the important moments. She was just doing everything a little bit better than me.
"I was just watching. I was like a spectator a little bit."
Radwanska commented: "I`m so happy and pleased, especially that I beat one of the best players in the world.
"It was not an easy draw and not an easy quarter-final. I`m very happy that I made my first semi-final here.
"There were a lot of good rallies, amazing points, running forward, backwards, side to side so many times. I was really feeling good on court - I was feeling I could really do everything, trying and fighting for every point, every ball."
BDST: 1448 HRS, JAN 22, 2014
