Wimbledon 2012 - Victoria Azarenka vs. Tamira Paszek (14:30 BST)

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by Crunch Sports Staff

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Victoria Azarenka of Belarus celebrates a point during her Ladies' singles fourth round match against Ana Ivanovic of Serbia on day seven of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 2, 2012 in London, England (credit: Clive Rose/AFP/Getty Images)

Victoria Azarenka takes on Tamira Paszek this afternoon in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon 2012 (14:30 BST start).

Only a few short weeks ago, the gulf between these two players could hardly have been greater. Azarenka was enjoying the best season of her career to date with 38 wins to her name, while Paszek had only won two matches, and was sliding down the rankings at a fairly rapid pace.

But a title success in Eastbourne turned things around for the Austrian, and she’ll now take on the world No. 2 at the All-England Club for a place in the semi-finals.

Azarenka’s appearance in the last eight of Wimbledon 2012 is hardly surprising. For much of the year, the Belarusian has been the standout player on the WTA Tour. Few have been able to beat her, and at one point she was on course to emulate Novak Djokovic's 2011 feats. She’s made comfortable progress over the past week, and her fourth round 6-1 6-0 thrashing of Ana Ivanovic was incredible to watch.

Paszek has been poor throughout the year, but her grass court form is unrivalled. She also shone in round four with a 6-2 6-2 demolition of No. 21 seed Roberta Vinci.

Azarenka beat Paszek her with ease last season in the Wimbledon quarter-finals, and holds a 2-0 head-to-head record against her. It’s quite clear that the second seed is the favourite. Still, Paszek’s results of late have defied belief, and it would be foolish to rule out the world No. 37 later today.

Prediction: Azarenka in three.

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