2011 Andalucia Tennis Experience: Victoria Azarenka vs Dinara Safina – Quarterfinal Preview
Top seed Victoria Azarenka is set to face former world number one Dinara Safina of Russia in a much anticipated quarterfinal at the 2011 Andalucia Tennis Experience in Marbella, Italy.
Azarenka reached her career high ranking of world number six in October 2009 and has consistently remained in the top 10 of WTA since then. Her success story continued in the year 2011 as well as she claimed her career sixth Women’s
Tennis Association title at Sony Ericsson Open in Miami just a few days ago. In the final Belarusian tennis star overwhelmed three times Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-4. Prior to that Azarenka reached quarterfinals of Sydney and BNP Paribas Open
to earn vital WTA rankings points.
Azarenka booked her quarterfinal place at the WTA tournament after recording a straight set victory over Spaniard Laura Pous-Tio. She looked in commanding form and executed her game plan to perfection. Azarenka required only 1
hour and 16 minutes dispatching her opponent.
Safina on the other hand, made it to the last eight on the previous evening with a thumping 6-3, 6-4 victory over Tsvetana Pironkova. Pironkova was seeded fifth at the clay-courts tournament.
Between 2002 and 2009, Safina collected 12 WTA titles to become a member of elite class in tennis world. The Russian tennis-pro stayed on top of the WTA rankings for a considerable period of time. However, year 2010 proved to
be a disaster for her as she missed most of the WTA event due to a back injury. Since the start of this season Safina has been working hard to get back on top of WTA rankings. At Kuala Lampur, she bagged her 9th Doubles WTA title. However, her struggle
in the singles arena still continues as she is unseeded at the WTA tournament.
The two players have met each other on five previous occasions with Safina leading the head to head by 4-1. In their most last clash at the 2009 French Open Safina came back from a set deficit to down her opponent 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.
However a lot has been changed since then. Azarenka has improved her game significantly over the last couple of years where as Safina is still trying to find recover her peak form.
Both players have some key weapons which they may use against one another. Azarenka’s backhand is regarded as the most powerful and accurate in Women’s tennis. Additionally she has the ability to defend under pressure which will
certainly help the cause. Safina has a huge forehand and a sharp backhand to go with it. By the virtue of her current form, skills and consistency, Azarenka is expected to emerge victorious in three tight sets.
Tags: