<p>Victoria Azarenka reached her first <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tag/australian-open" target="_blank">Australian Open </a>semi-final since winning the title in 2013 when she knocked out third seed Jessica Pegula 6-4, 6-1 on Tuesday.</p>.<p>The Belarusian 24th seed outlasted her American opponent in a marathon 64-minute first set before running away with the second to set up a last-four encounter against Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina at Melbourne Park.</p>.<p>"Well, it hurts to beat her because I always want her to do well," said Azarenka, 33, who also won the Australian Open in 2012 and is a close friend of Pegula's.</p>.<p>"But at the same time, I have to play my best tennis. She has been playing amazing, very consistent. I knew from the first point I had to bring it."</p>.<p>Pegula was in her third Australian Open quarter-final and had never reached the semi-finals of a Slam in four previous attempts, failing to win a set in any of them.</p>.<p>It was a sorry statistic that was to be extended under the roof at Rod Laver Arena.</p>.<p>The 28-year-old is the epitome of a late bloomer, with 18 of her 30 Grand Slam match wins coming since the start of last year.</p>.<p>She had dropped only 18 games en route to the quarter-final, fewer than any other player left in the draw.</p>.<p>But Pegula was immediately put under the pump by the relentless groundstrokes of her opponent.</p>.<p>Azarenka's defence and her ability to put pressure on during long rallies was all too evident in the first set.</p>.<p>Azarenka sped into an early 3-0 lead then forced Pegula to save six break points in an attritional 10-minute fourth game, before the American finally got on the scoreboard.</p>.<p>Pegula somehow still clung on.</p>.<p>She saved two set points on her serve to get to 3-5 and two more in the next game, before turning the tables and breaking Azarenka to get back to 4-5.</p>.<p>Azarenka would not buckle, moving forward to take the ball early in Pegula's next service game.</p>.<p>The tactic brought her two more set points and this time the Belarusian succeeded on the first to take the opener 6-4 after 64 relentlessly physical minutes.</p>.<p>"We had so many rallies and I just wanted to try and stay there and take opportunities," said Azarenka.</p>.<p>"I'm very proud that I executed my game plan really well. It's so amazing to be in another semi-final of a Grand Slam."</p>.<p>Early breaks were exchanged in the second set before Azarenka made the decisive move.</p>.<p>She broke for 3-1 and held her own service game, with an increasingly frustrated Pegula complaining to her player's box.</p>.<p>"I don't know what to do. The ball's not going anywhere," she said.</p>.<p>Serving for the match Azarenka brought up two match points but only needed one as she powered through in 1hr 33min.</p>
<p>Victoria Azarenka reached her first <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tag/australian-open" target="_blank">Australian Open </a>semi-final since winning the title in 2013 when she knocked out third seed Jessica Pegula 6-4, 6-1 on Tuesday.</p>.<p>The Belarusian 24th seed outlasted her American opponent in a marathon 64-minute first set before running away with the second to set up a last-four encounter against Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina at Melbourne Park.</p>.<p>"Well, it hurts to beat her because I always want her to do well," said Azarenka, 33, who also won the Australian Open in 2012 and is a close friend of Pegula's.</p>.<p>"But at the same time, I have to play my best tennis. She has been playing amazing, very consistent. I knew from the first point I had to bring it."</p>.<p>Pegula was in her third Australian Open quarter-final and had never reached the semi-finals of a Slam in four previous attempts, failing to win a set in any of them.</p>.<p>It was a sorry statistic that was to be extended under the roof at Rod Laver Arena.</p>.<p>The 28-year-old is the epitome of a late bloomer, with 18 of her 30 Grand Slam match wins coming since the start of last year.</p>.<p>She had dropped only 18 games en route to the quarter-final, fewer than any other player left in the draw.</p>.<p>But Pegula was immediately put under the pump by the relentless groundstrokes of her opponent.</p>.<p>Azarenka's defence and her ability to put pressure on during long rallies was all too evident in the first set.</p>.<p>Azarenka sped into an early 3-0 lead then forced Pegula to save six break points in an attritional 10-minute fourth game, before the American finally got on the scoreboard.</p>.<p>Pegula somehow still clung on.</p>.<p>She saved two set points on her serve to get to 3-5 and two more in the next game, before turning the tables and breaking Azarenka to get back to 4-5.</p>.<p>Azarenka would not buckle, moving forward to take the ball early in Pegula's next service game.</p>.<p>The tactic brought her two more set points and this time the Belarusian succeeded on the first to take the opener 6-4 after 64 relentlessly physical minutes.</p>.<p>"We had so many rallies and I just wanted to try and stay there and take opportunities," said Azarenka.</p>.<p>"I'm very proud that I executed my game plan really well. It's so amazing to be in another semi-final of a Grand Slam."</p>.<p>Early breaks were exchanged in the second set before Azarenka made the decisive move.</p>.<p>She broke for 3-1 and held her own service game, with an increasingly frustrated Pegula complaining to her player's box.</p>.<p>"I don't know what to do. The ball's not going anywhere," she said.</p>.<p>Serving for the match Azarenka brought up two match points but only needed one as she powered through in 1hr 33min.</p>