MADRID — Victoria Azarenka suffered a stunning meltdown and blew three match points with consecutive double faults against world number one Serena Williams before losing 7-6(5) 3-6 7-6(1) in the third round of the Madrid Open on Wednesday.
Azarenka served for the match at 6-5 and 40-0 in the third set but fell to pieces with three double faults in a dramatic collapse, before losing the game and the resulting tiebreak.
Williams eased through her first two matches but had a much tougher test against the hard-hitting Azarenka, ranked 31, who is rediscovering her form after an injury plagued 2014.