United kingdom Daily news: Wimbledon 2012: Victoria Azarenka relaxes with her team before her showdown with Serena

Kamis, 05 Juli 2012

Wimbledon 2012: Victoria Azarenka relaxes with her team before her showdown with Serena

Wimbledon 2012: Victoria Azarenka relaxes with her team before her showdown with Serena

By Toni Jones

PUBLISHED: 07:17 EST, 5 July 2012 | UPDATED: 09:20 EST, 5 July 2012

It is crunch time on the court this afternoon, but the blonde from Belarus looks perfectly composed prior to her battle with Serena Williams.

Dressed down in a zip-up sweat shirt and a baseball cap the tennis star took time out from practice to share a joke and an iced coffee with her team.

At 5.11" the world number two stands two inches higher than her opponent, but having lost seven of the eight matches she has played against the American in the past getting to the final could be a tall order.

Glowing: stunning Victoria talks tactics with her team

Smile: Something tickles the tennis ace

Victoria's journey to the semis has been fairly smooth, with the only close call coming in a dramatic second-set tie-break with Tamira Paszec on Tuesday night.

Serena meanwhile has won the least amount of matches of any of the other three semifinalists and at 30 years old she is also the oldest of the group.

But when it comes to stepping up to the game under pressure Serena is still one of the strongest tennis players in the sport, winning 17 of the 20 Grand Slam semifinals she has competed in.

And the thirty-year-old powerhouse is determined to land her fifth Wimbledon title.

22-year-old Victoria doesn't seem worried though and is looking forward to the clash.

'I donâ€™t really like to look back in history,â€ she said, â€œbecause every time you step on the court itâ€™s a new story.

'You kind of write your own history every time.'

Cool: chilling out with a frappe before the day heats up

Standing tall: showing off the legs that she hopes will propel her in to the final

In action: the tennis ace powers through her matches

Victory: Serena Williams celebrates a win over Petra Kvitova

THE WIMBLEDON WARBLE

Tennis fans at Wimbledon today will be preparing themselves for a serious sound clash.

The courts have been quiet since shrieking Maria Sharapova crashed out on Thursday.

But Serena Williams is well known for her powerful grunt, and Victoria Azarenka's vocal cords are infamous on the tennis circuit.

Not quite a grunt, or a scream, the blonde's strange on court sound has been described as a high-pitched shriek.

The crowds love it - they have been known to shriek back at her in support - but the blonde's opponents have making noise about the off putting sound in the past.

In Australia in January former world No 1 Jelena Janokovic complained: 'After the match, you go home and you sleep and you still hear that grunting in your mind.'

And officials are considering moves to lessen the noise levels.

But Victoria is unrepentant.

She says: 'I don't think Maria and I are the only players who actually grunt. It's the way I am - the way I play.

'I used to play like this when I was a kid because I was weak, so I had to give that little extra power. It kind of stuck with me.'