Second seed Victoria Azarenka beat Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova 6-2 6-3 on Wednesday to set up a US Open semi-final clash with Italy's Flavia Pennetta. Belarusian Azarenka, the beaten finalist at Flushing Meadows last year, took control after breaking Hantuchova with a superb backhand to go 5-2 up in the first set. Hantuchova, ranked 48th in the world, made a determined start to the second set though, holding her serve and then going 2-0 up, breaking thanks to well-placed volley. But Azarenka hit back immediately with a break and that clearly rattled her Slovak opponent, who proceeded to make a series of unforced errors.
