New York: World number 1 Victoria Azarenka has qualified for the semi-finals of the US Open after she defeated the defending champion Samantha Stosur here on Tuesday.

Azarenka won the match 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (5) in a match that lasted for two hours and 23 minutes.

Azarenka won the first set which was quite a lopsided event, but the defending champion came back strong to win the second set.

The third set was an evenly matched one and Stosur saved two match points to take the top seeded player to the hilt. But then Azarenka held on to her nerves and eventually won the match in a tie-breaker.

It was a rain curtailed day and the match between Maria Sharapova and Marion Bartoli had to postponed. Bartoli was leading 4-0 when the play was suspended.

By Indian Sports News Network