Azarenka to compete hard at Doha
For the second year in a row, professional tennis player Victoria Azarenka has qualified for the end of year WTA Tour Championships. The Belarusian player defeated German tennis player Andrea Petkovic in a lop-sided three set upset, finally moving past her
opponent with a score line of 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, to book herself a slot at the showcase event next month.
Azarenka, who is seeded second at the Kremlin Cup in Russia, managed to defeat Petkovic in a second round match on Wednesday. The match involved 16 service breaks, with Azarenka committing 11 double faults. However, she won the last five games of the match
which lasted two hours and thirty eight minutes and a grand total of 44 break points. Azarenka saved 18 of 25 break points, while Petkovic saved 10 of 19.
Questions about Azarenka’s fitness and her ability to win this match had been raised, especially keeping in mind that at her last tournament, the 2010 China Open in Beijing, the eighth seeded player had been forced to retire to Timea Bacsinszky in the second
round, with the final score line as 6-4, 2-3.
When asked about the difficulty of these courts at the Kremlin Cup, Azarenka said, “Oh, it's really too much. The courts here are extremely slow and it's hard to serve a winner.'' At this tournament, the top seeded player is Jelena Jankovic, who won the
Kremlin Cup trophy in the year 2008.
Victoria Azarenka, who is at Number 10 on the Women’s Tennis Association’s rankings, has qualified to replace the elusive former World Number 1 Serena Williams in the exclusive eight-player end of season tour championships. These championships will start
this Tuesday, in Doha, Qatar. Serena Williams herself has been missing from the tennis action since July due to an alleged glass injury she sustained to her right foot at a restaurant in Munich. Despite of several promises of a return to tournaments such as
the Toray Pan Pacific Open, the China Open and the Generali Ladies Linz, Serena has finally confirmed that she will be out for the year due to a re-torn tendon in the same foot.
Chinese pro tennis player Na Li and Victoria Azarenka had been two of the substitutes for the tournament. Although Na Li is five points ahead of the Belarusian player in the championship rankings, the Chinese player lost the first match she played in Moscow.
She is however, top substitute for the event.
Azarenka herself seems very pleased to be competing in the Doha event. The WTA Tour Championships are considered to be one of the most prestigious events in the world of women’s tennis, and an invitation to play the exclusive tournament is a great honour.
The tournament reward money is also a substantial amount, with the Doha Champion raking in 1.5 million dollars this year. Another benefit for players participating in the event this year is that at least six of the world’s top 20 female tennis players have
opted out of the tournament due to injuries. This offers lesser players a much greater chance to win. Azarenka clearly realizes this; her statement upon qualifying for the event was, “My nerves were right on the edge. Every player wants to play in Doha and
I'm happy I turned the match my way in the third set.”
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