MADRID — It was a narrow escape — a matter of three centimeters wide of the line, Serena Williams said Wednesday.
In fact, Victoria Azarenka said, it was more like one centimeter.
Whatever the exact distance, the serve that Azarenka briefly believed to have been a winning ace was ruled to have sailed wide, which allowed Williams to survive a third consecutive match point. After that, Azarenka served three straight double faults, on her way to a decisive tiebreaker and a defeat.
After she completed the dramatic 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (1) win to reach the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open, Williams said she could not recall having recovered from a 0-40 deficit with her opponent serving to close the match.