PARIS(AP) It took Victoria Azarenka all of 23 minutes Tuesday to win more games against Dinara Safina than the French Open's top-seeded woman had lost in her four previous matches combined.
Azarenka dominated Safina for a set. And that was all.
Slowly coming unglued in the first Grand Slam quarterfinal of her career, the ninth-seeded Azarenka let the lead - and her temper - slip away, allowing Safina to charge back for a 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory at Roland Garros.
I had a lot of chances,'' the 19-year-old Azarenka said,but she definitely stepped it up.''
Azarenka knocked off defending French Open champion Ana Ivanovic in the fourth round, and she appeared on her way to another upset Tuesday.
The Belarussian compiled 10 winners and only one unforced error in the opening set, when she broke Safina's serve three times. Entering Tuesday, Safina had lost five games at Roland Garros this year, the lowest total through four entire matches at any Grand Slam tournament in 15 years.
But things began to change in the second set.
With Azarenka serving and a point from a 2-1 lead, she double-faulted. Then she double-faulted on the next point, too, before putting a backhand into the net to give Safina the game. The match was 38 minutes old, and it was Azarenka's first real show of nerves. It wasn't the last: She wound up with 21 unforced errors over the last two sets.
``She started to miss much more,'' Safina said.
Two games later, Safina ended a long exchange with a cross-court forehand winner to earn a break point, and Azarenka threw her racket to the court. Another double-fault made it 4-1 for Safina, and Azarenka again chucked her racket, drawing whistles from the crowd.
What happened to her serve in that second set?
It was just something with my emotion,'' said Azarenka, who considers Chicago Blackhawks goalie Nikolai Khabibulin a mentor and lives with his family at its Scottsdale, Ariz., home when she isn't traveling on tour.I didn't know what was going on. I have no idea.''
Azarenka briefly recovered, taking the next three games to get to 4-all. But in the next game, Azarenka missed a backhand wide that allowed Safina to break at love for a 5-4 lead.
``That was it,'' Azarenka said.
When Safina came up with three consecutive service winners to close the second set, Azarenka spiked her racket, caught it, and tossed it again, drawing more jeers.
I just have to learn how to play better in these moments,'' Azarenka said.It's all experience, which I have to learn from, and hopefully I'll do better next time.''
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BORG'S TEXT: Bjorn Borg finally got in touch with Robin Soderling to express a little gratitude.
Borg shares the record of four consecutive French Open titles with Rafael Nadal, whose bid for No. 5 in a row came to an end with a loss to Soderling in the fourth round. After that upset, Soderling said he hoped to hear from Borg. Both are from Sweden.
And after reaching his first Grand Slam semifinal with a straight-set victory over Nikolay Davydenko on Tuesday, Soderling said he had, indeed, received a text message from Borg.
He said, 'Congratulations.' And, 'Thank you for not letting Nadal break my record,''' Soderling said.I think he will be down here maybe tomorrow.''
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BRYANS IN SEMIS: American twins Bob and Mike Bryan are back in the semifinals at the French Open, the Grand Slam tournament they consider the toughest.
The second-seeded Bryans beat Marc Lopez and Tommy Robredo of Spain 7-6 (1), 4-6, 7-6 (2) Tuesday. The Bryans won the French Open in 2003 and were the runners-up in 2005 and 2006, but they lost in the quarterfinals each of the past two years.
It's so hard to hold serve,'' Mike said.You miss the first serve, and you only win like 40 percent of those points because everyone can return and set up with a big forehand. For everyone, you see a lot of upsets here.''
The sun has dried the clay courts this year, making them play faster than usual, and the seven-time Grand Slam doubles champions are enjoying every second of it.
We love the fast courts. It helps our big serves,'' Mike said.And these Roland Garros balls really pop when it's hot.''
Lopez served for the match at 5-3, but the Bryans broke back and then held to force the tiebreaker.
We were just trying to stay positive and stay calm,'' Bob said.Trying to take one point at a time.''
The Americans now play Wesley Moodie of South Africa and Dick Norman of Belgium.
A completely different team than the team we played today,'' Bob said.Big-serving doubles team. So we'll go back to our conventional doubles tactics - aggressive style.''
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AP Sports Writer Chris Lehourites and Associated Press Writer Trung Latieule contributed to this report.