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Azarenka marches on in Qatar

Victoria Azarenka showed her new mental toughness as she kept her calm despite a late charge from Yanina Wickmayer in the semi-finals of the Qatar Open.

The world number one reeled off an easy opening set, which she completely dominated in just 21 minutes.

However, her opponent fought back in the second before Azarenka clinched the match with a 6-0 6-4 victory.

“Last year at this time I was a little bit of a mess. I couldn’t control any of my emotions,” Azarenka said.

“That’s one thing when I came back after Doha to Indian Wells I had to change, my mentality on the court, the way I approach a match, the way I approach tough moments.

“Now, I don’t try to think about why something is happening to me. I just try to accept it and deal with it.

“I just try to stay really focused on each moment because it doesn’t matter what the score is, you always have a chance until the match is done.”

Azarenka will face fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska in Saturday’s semi-finals after she beat Christina McHale 6-1 6-1.

In other results, Samantha Stosur continued her run, although had a tough time on Friday. The Australian needed three sets to beat Romanian Monica Niculescu 6-3 2-6 6-3.

“Early in the second set I missed some opportunities. She grew in confidence and started playing better,” Stosur told the WTA website.

“It’s one of those matches where when you are in control, you have to keep going and keep going and keep going, and know you’re going to miss a few but you’re going to make more than you miss.

“Monica plays a unique game that at times can put you off, but at the end of the day I’m happy with the way I bounced back in the middle of that third set.”

She’s up against Marion Bartoli in the semi-finals as the Frenchwoman saw off Lucie Safarova, 7-5 4-6 6-1.