Victoria Azarenka and Vera Zvonareva will face off on Saturday in the semi-finals of this year’s WTA Championships

You can watch and bet on the action from the WTA Championships at bet365

Victoria Azarenka qualified for the semi-finals of the WTA Championships as the winner of the White Group, and she’ll be hoping to edge one step closer to winning the title on Saturday when she meets Vera Zvonareva in the semi-finals.

Azarenka won her first two matches in Istanbul convincingly, and she was playing with the confidence of a serious title contender. Unfortunately, she was unable to maintain this form on Friday, as she fell in three sets against her stand in opponent Marion Bartoli.

In fairness to Azarenka, the world No. 9 was in a determined mood, and she hadn’t played a competitive match all week. The Belarusian on the other hand had little to play for, and the defeat can easily be overlooked. That said, the fact that she was on court for just over two and a half hours was hardly ideal.

Zvonareva qualified for the final four in slightly unusual circumstances. She won just one of her group matches, but this was enough to see her through. The Russian hasn’t been at her best this week, but she’s not been in poor form, and she shouldn’t be written off just yet. Also, she didn’t have to play on Friday, and this day of rest could give her a big advantage.

Azarenka won the only matchup between her and Zvonareva this season, and she won convincingly (6-0, 6-3, Miami). Overall though, Zvonareva has a 6-3 match record against the 22 year-old. The outcome of this upcoming clash isn’t easy to predict, and it will be intriguing to see how the match pans out.

You can watch and bet on the action from the WTA Championships at bet365