Azarenka, Venus lose at Key Biscayne

Key Biscayne, Florida: Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka lost for the first time this year when she was beaten by Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-3 on Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open. Azarenka had won 26 consecutive matches, a streak that began at the start of this year. Her start was the best on the women’s tour since Martina Hingis went 37-0 to begin 1997. Azarenka had won her four previous tournaments this year, including the Australian Open for her first Grand Slam title. She was the defending champion at Key Biscayne. The Belarussian made 29 unforced errors against Bartoli, and dropped serve six times. The No 7-seeded Bartoli’s opponent in the semifinals Thursday will be No. 5 Agnieszka Radwanska, who eliminated Venus Williams 6-4, 6-1. [caption id=“attachment_258972” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=" Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka lost for the first time this year when she was beaten by Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-3 on Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open. AP"]  [/caption] Venus Williams’s comeback from illness ended with a 6-4 6-1 defeat to Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarter-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open on Wednesday. For Williams, whose sister Serena was eliminated by Caroline Wozniacki on Tuesday, the defeat marked the end of her first singles tournament since last year’s US Open when she revealed she had been diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome. The auto-immune disease causes fatigue and joint soreness and, after doing well to reach the last eight by beating Ana Ivanovic, Williams looked tired in the latter stages of the 80-minute match World number four Radwanska enjoyed a 74 percent first serve percentage while Williams, who entered the tournament as a wildcard, paid the price for 33 unforced errors. Agencies