Fearless Azarenka Denies Serena A Slice Of History
Photo: © Getty Images
Victoria Azarenka
At the age of 19 years, eight months, Azarenka becomes only the sixth teenage champion in tournament history, joining the distinguished list of Monica Seles (16 years, four months in 1990), Martina Hingis (16 years, six months in 1997), Steffi Graf (17 years, eight months in 1987), Venus Williams (17 years, nine months in 1998) and Gabriela Sabatini (18 years, 10 months in 1989).
Her success at the Sony Ericsson Open will see Azarenka rise from No. 10 to a career-high No. 8 in the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Rankings on Monday. The Belarusian began the season ranked No. 16, but after winning her first two WTA Tour singles titles at Brisbane (d. Bartoli) and Memphis (d. Wozniacki) and reaching the semifinals at the Premier-level event in Indian Wells (l. to Zvonareva) two weeks ago, her ranking improved to No. 10 coming into the Sony Ericsson Open.
"I was so happy," said Azarenka. "It was the biggest win of my career so far. I was just so happy to finish that match, because I was getting a little bit nervous in the end."
The 27-year-old Williams was looking to win an all-time record sixth women's singles title at the Sony Ericsson Open; she currently shares the record of five titles with Steffi Graf. She is currently tied with the German former-great for seven final appearances at the Sony Ericsson Open. She finished runner-up to elder sister Venus in the 1999 final before capturing three successive titles in 2002 (d. Capriati), 2003 (d. Capriati) and 2004 (d. Dementieva). She regained the title in 2007 with victory over Justine Henin and defeated Jelena Jankovic to clinch her fifth title last year.
The American cemented her place atop the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Rankings after defeating Venus Williams in the semifinals on Thursday evening. On Monday she will begin her 10th consecutive week at No. 1, since reclaiming the ranking by winning her 10th Grand Slam singles championship at the Australian Open with victory over Dinara Safina. Had she lost before the final in Miami, she would have relinquished her hold on the top spot to Safina, despite the Russian’s third-round exit to Samantha Stosur.
In the lead-up to Saturday’s final, Azarenka had surrendered just one set in five matches – enjoying straight sets wins over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, No. 22 seed Anna Chakvetadze, No. 25 Agnes Szavay and Samantha Stosur before battling past 2006 champion and eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinal.
The right-hander carried her strong form into the final and made life difficult for Williams, who was struggling with ankle and quad injuries that she later explained restricted her movement left, right and forward. Azarenka capitalized on Williams’ early errors to break and lead 2-1 as the American netted a forehand. However, her lead was short-lived as Williams immediately leveled at 2-2 as Azarenka fired a forehand long.
Big hitting from the Belarusian was rewarded in the seventh game as she earned a 15/40 advantage. Williams denied Azarenka on both opportunities before giving her a third chance as she landed a forehand long. A cry of frustration from the American told the story as another unforced error saw Azarenka recoup her break advantage to lead 4-3.
Azarenka continued to pressure Williams and keep her running and she clinched the one-set lead in the ninth game as the American netted a backhand on Azarenka’s fourth set point.
The second set saw no improvement for Williams, who continued to struggle with her movement and the unforced errors were a prominent feature of the American’s game. She found herself down 15/40 in the fourth game and Azarenka assumed a 3-1 lead as Williams committed one of five double faults in the match.
A 30th unforced error from Williams saw her trail 0-40 in the sixth game and the fearless Azarenka was quick to take advantage, rifling a forehand winner down-the-line to lead 5-1. In a nervy final game, Azarenka squandered two match points and saved two break points before earning a third opportunity to clinch victory as Williams returned serve long. At the third time of asking Azarenka prevailed when Williams’ rallying backhand landed long of the baseline after 72 minutes of play.
"I was more consistent and more aggressive," assessed Azarenka. "I would say I was always trying to put pressure and I was just believing in myself so much. No matter what, I have to play and keep going and I can win. I think I controlled [my emotions] very well for the first big final. I wasn't getting upset on any ball. I was just happy to play every point."
Azarenka had come close to defeating Williams in their last meeting in the Australian Open third round, when she led the eventual champion 6-3, 2-4 before retiring due to dizziness and illness. She now improves to a 23-2 match record on the season.
“I think she's really, really improved,” said Williams of Azarenka. “I actually look forward to playing her again so I can play a little better and obviously do better. But I think she obviously has potential and she's going to be a really good player.
“She's an all round good player. It actually makes my feel good, because it makes me want to do better and work harder.”
Williams was looking to win her 34th WTA Tour singles title and drops to a 33-13 record in finals. As well as clinching the Australian Open title, the Florida resident has reached semifinals at Sydney (l. to Dementieva), Paris (w/o vs. Dementieva) and Dubai (l. to V. Williams). She has a 21-3 match record in 2009.
Thursday: Serena Wins Sister Act To Reach Seventh Final
Thursday: Azarenka Closes On Third Tour Title
Wednesday: Venus Sets Up All-Williams Semifinal Clash
Wednesday: Unstoppable Serena Battles Past Li
Tuesday: Kuznetsova, Azarenka To Meet In Semifinals
Monday: Serena Fights For 50th Win
Monday: Wozniacki Ousts Dementieva In Latest Upset
Week 1
Sunday: Serena, Venus Maintain Their Focus
Sunday: Safina, Ivanovic Crash Out
Saturday: Venus Eases Through; Dulko Stuns Jankovic
Saturday: Serena Begins Quest For Record Sixth Title
Friday: Ivanovic Impressive In Opener
Friday: Dementieva Prevails In All-Russian Clash
Thursday: Peer Sets Up Venus Clash
Wednesday: Kirilenko Leads Russians Through
