UPDATE 1-Tennis-Azarenka punishes Hantuchova's mistakes to reach last four

* After shaky start Azarenka too much for Slovak

* Hantuchova pays price for key double-faults (Adds detail, quotes)

By Simon Evans

NEW YORK, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Second seed Victoria Azarenka punished a series of errors by Daniela Hantuchova to win 6-2 6-3 on Wednesday and set up a U.S. Open semi-final clash with Italy's Flavia Pennetta.

Belarusian Azarenka, the beaten finalist at Flushing Meadows last year, took control after breaking the Slovak 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, who has reached the quarter-finals or better in eight of the last 11 grand slams, hit back immediately with a break which rattled her opponent, who proceeded to make a series of unforced errors.

Azarenka had three break points in the fifth game but lost them all, only for Hantuchova to double-fault twice at deuce and gift her the game and a 3-2 lead.

The Belarusian had service struggles of her own and gave Hantuchova a glimmer of hope with a double-fault that gave up a break to make it 5-3, but again the Slovak was unable to capitalize and Azarenka ran out the comfortable winner.

"It was a little bit tricky out there with the wind and Daniela is the kind of player who doesn't give you much rhythm," said the former world number one.

"So you really have to try to make it happen in one or two shots in the beginning, so that's what I was trying to do."

It was a disjointed game in many respects, which Azarenka said hampered her ability to find her flow.

"There weren't many long rallies and that sometimes makes it more difficult to get into the match. But I felt like I was really good in the important moments," she added.

"In the first set, towards the end, I really raised my level to where I wanted to and that was the key to this match."

Hantuchova, who was in her first U.S. Open grand slam quarter-final since 2002, knows she will need to find greater consistency and limit her errors if she is to go further next time.

"I didn't feel like I played my best tennis today, which is unfortunate because I had many chances and didn't hold my serves when I needed to," she told Reuters.

"Throughout the whole tournament my serve was working great but just not tonight.

"I am very disappointed with the performance, because I know what I can do and how I can play. I came into the match feeling confident, it just didn't work out today."

(Editing by Peter Rutherford)

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On the Eve of the Season, the Last of Glen Sather’s Expensive Mistakes Is Gone

Wade Redden.

It’s sort of fitting that as the Rangers prepare to kick of their most highly anticipated season in more than a decade, the team has cut ties with the final reminder of past mismanagement. Yesterday, as expected, the team bought out the contract of Wade Redden, after the league and players union agreed to allow that sort of thing to happen now instead of after the season. Redden, who spent the last two seasons on the Rangers' AHL affiliate, was hardly the only expensive mistake Glen Sather ever made. But the others were already gone: Scott Gomez, for instance, was shipped away to Montreal after just two seasons, while Chris Drury, as well liked as he was, was bought out in 2011.

There wasn’t necessarily a turning point when Sather started to Get It: You can trace the rebuilding of this team to events that took place before the lockout, but big mistakes were still made after it ended. In any case, Sather has mostly gotten his act together and assembled a team that’s both talented and eminently likable. Once upon a time, the Rangers’ strategy was a league-wide joke. How different are things now? Check out the Hurricanes section of the Down Goes Brown conference preview or read Puck Daddy's Ryan Lambert express bewilderment about how the Rangers can look this good on paper and still have some room under the cap. Cutting ties with Redden doesn’t make the Rangers any better — and his buyout affects their cap situation for this year, as does Drury's — but on the eve of the 2013 season, there’s a certain symbolism to it, no?

In the spring of 2010, a friend of ours submitted an item about us and our job to our high school’s alumni magazine. It described this blog as “the go-to Internet source for daily New York Rangers pessimism.” Indeed, the 2009–10 season saw the Rangers miss the playoffs for the first time since the lockout. But the seeds of a better team had been planted, and less than three years later, Sather’s plan has really started to come together. He's still willing to throw around big money: The Brad Richards contract, especially, won’t look so good toward the end, but give Sather credit for identifying a window of opportunity and going for it.

Yes, looking good on paper doesn’t mean very much, and the playoffs are chaotic and unpredictable. But with the season set to open tomorrow, the Rangers — the Rangers! — look to be as dangerous a team as there is in the NHL this season. Optimism now abounds.

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