Victoria Azarenka from Belarus battled her way into the Wimbledon quarter-finals on Monday with a hard-fought 7-6 2-6 6-3 victory over Russia's Nadia Petrova.
The eighth seed, the first woman from Belarus to reach the last eight at Wimbledon since Natasha Zvereva in 1998, will have to raise her game to stand a chance against Serena Williams in the last eight.
An abysmal first set was awash with unforced errors, both players each losing their serve three times apiece before Azarenka, yowling with effort on every point, squeaked home 7-5 in a tight tiebreak.
Petrova, treated at the end of the set with ice packs to counteract the heat, came back with all guns blazing to level the match but could not maintain the pressure in the decider and Azarenka wrapped it up after two hours and 25 minutes.
