INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA - World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki became the third player into the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open, albeit under unfortunate circumstances, as Victoria Azarenka had to retire with a left hip injury.
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Azarenka, the No.8 seed, came out on fire, storming out to triple break point as No.1 seed Wozniacki served the opening game of the match. But Wozniacki didn't let go so easily, holding serve then breaking in the next game for a 2-0 lead. After Wozniacki held for 3-0, Azarenka was in just too much pain to go on.
"At one point I felt really bad pain and there was no point in continuing. I knew I couldn't handle it," Azarenka said. "I felt very good at the beginning of the match and was looking forward to playing Caroline. The first two games were really good and I had a great feeling going into today. But I took a ball on the run and slid a little bit, and that's when I felt the pain. It's just bad luck but I have some time to recover before Miami, so hopefully it won't be too serious. There's nothing much I can do about it now. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Miami."
For Wozniacki, the victory was bittersweet. "Victoria is one of my best friends on the tour and to see her in pain was not nice for sure. I would have liked to win it in another way but I'm through to the semifinals and happy to be there."
Right before the coin toss for their match, Wozniacki and Azarenka brought out a Japanese flag with writing on it saying, 'Our Thoughts Are With You' and 'Caroline & Victoria'. There was also a moment of silence on center court.
"It's just devastating what's going on in Japan. We just wanted to show we're thinking about them," Wozniacki said. "It was the least we could do."
The quest for the flag wasn't easy, either. "I asked my manager if he could find a Japanese flag somewhere and he told me it was two hours' drive from here, and I said, 'You better take your car and drive over there and get that flag for me!'" Wozniacki joked. "He got it and I talked to Victoria about it and she thought it was a great idea to do this. It puts everything in perspective. We were trying to think of what to write and wanted to keep it simple but still touching.
"I wanted the writing so perfect my hand almost cramped when I was doing it."
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Next up for Wozniacki will be either No.16 seed Maria Sharapova or unseeded Peng Shuai, who played the last quarterfinal later in the afternoon.
