An inch. That small distance can be the difference between winning and losing. In Serena Williams’ case, that was the difference that helped her avoid her first lost of 2015 by Victoria Azarenka at the Madrid Open today…

Williams came into the match against Victoria Azarenka on a 25 match winning streak, and without a loss in the 2015 season (22-0). In fact, Serena hasn’t lost since the WTA Championships round robin stage against Simona Halep way back in October of 2014. Since that loss, Serena avenged her round robin defeat to Halep in the final of the WTA Championships. She also won her 19th grand slam singles title at the Australian Open earlier this year, and won her 3rd straight Miami Open title (8th overall).

The first set went to a tiebreak and Serena was down 1-5 before coming back and winning the first set 7-6(5). In the second set, some inconsistent play from Serena allowed Azarenka to gain confidence, find her game, and win the second set to even the match. Serena quickly went ahead 3-0 in the final set, and it looked like it was just a formality for her to advance to the quarterfinals. Azarenka showed her grit and fight and won three straight games to pull even in the final set. After a couple of breaks of serve from both players, the match was even at 5 all. A loose game by Serena with some unforced errors gave Azarenka the break and the chance to serve out the match and end Williams’ 25 match win streak.

Here is where things got interesting. Azarenka was serving at 6-5, 40-love and had three match points on her racket. Serena played two great points to get the game to 40-30. With a match point still on her racket, Azarenka hits a serve out wide, and it looks like the match is over. Unfortunately for Azarenka, her serve was called a fault, and started her serving woes in trying to close out Serena. Azarenka served three double faults in a row to gift Serena the game and force the third set into a tiebreak.

In the tiebreak, it was all Serena who played smart, controlled tennis to dominate the tiebreak 7 points to 1 and escape to play another day at the Madrid Open. After the match, Serena had this to say about the near defeat, “She almost hit an ace. She missed it by not even three centimeters. I thought, `Wow’. This is definitely an escape. I’ve had some other escapes, but I don’t think I’ve been down love-40 on someone’s serve before.” After an injury plagued season last year, Azarenka, who is a two-time finalist, was unseeded in Madrid for the first time. “She’s absolutely on her way back,” Serena said of Azarenka’s return to form. “It’s so good to see a Grand Slam champion like her playing so well.”

Serena will play in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open tomorrow against Carla Suarez-Navarro, who took out Ana Ivanoic in three sets. Coverage of the match can be seen on ESPN 3 and The Tennis Channel.