Clijsters falls to Azarenka in Miami

Victoria Azarenka defeated Kim Clijsters in the QF of the Sony Ericsson Open

Miami: Belarussian Victoria Azarenka produced some sparkling tennis to defeat an out-of-sorts world number two Kim Clijsters in the quarter-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open on Wednesday.

Azarenka, whose career breakthrough came with her win here at Key Biscayne in 2009, ran out 6-3 6-3 winner against the 2010 champion Clijsters. The eighth-ranked Azarenka took full advantage of a below-par display from Clijsters who made 44 unforced errors, a day after she was pushed to a third set tie-break by Ana Ivanovic. "I just didn`t feel good out there. Just mentally and physically, I didn`t feel right," the Belgian told reporters. "It has been a tough few last days but not in a way that I should not be ready for that. I train hard enough to physically be capable of doing that. "Mentally I just kind of feel like I didn`t have any fighting spirit. "It`s obviously tough against someone like her. Against some lower ranked players maybe it`s possible to get through matches, but against somebody like her it isn`t," she said.Azarenka, playing good all-round tennis, had a spring in her step on a venue where she first emerged as a player to watch on the tour. "I feel like I`m happy all the time. It doesn`t matter whether I`m on or off the court. "Here there is so much excitement from people and so many great fans coming. It`s always going to be a special place for me, so I`m really enjoying my time here," she said. "I`m really happy with the way I`ve started to play. I`m really happy on the court. When you enjoy playing, it makes it a lot easier to be there." Azarenka will face Russian world number three Vera Zvonareva in the semi-finals on Thursday after she beat Poland`s Agnieszka Radwanska 7-5 6-3.The Russian took advantage of some mediocre serves from her opponent to go up 6-5 in the first set and although Radwanska rallied in the next game to go up 30-0 against serve, Zvonareva regained her composure to wrap up the first set. It was easier going in the second and the Russian finished off the ninth-seeded Radwanska with a perfect passing shot. Russian Maria Sharapova will face emerging German talent Andrea Petkovic in Thursday`s other semi-final. Bureau Report