Bank of the West Classic: Victoria Azarenka wins the final battle
The professional tennis ace, Victoria Azarenka from Belarus won her very first championship of the season on Sunday after knocking down the fifth seeded Maria Sharapova in the final of the Bank of the West Classic, at Stanford.
The eighth seeded Azarenka defeated Sharapova in a total of two sets with a final match score of 6-4, 6-1 on Sunday. “This is definitely one of my best performances up till now and I am glad that at last I won my first title of the season,” said the Belarusian tennis ace after her victory at Stanford.
“It was a wonderful experience of fighting along with so many great players all around you. I really enjoyed the every bit of it”, she added.
After she won the match, Victoria dropped down her racquet on the court and headed towards Sharapova in order to shake hands with her. Later on, the winning lady hugged her coach and then once again came back to the court to spend some time with her fanciers at Stanford.
Victoria could not stop smiling throughout the prize distribution ceremony as well as during the news conference later on after holding the title.
“I tried to stay confident on the court,” she said. “I am really working hard to improve my game and to remain alert for most of the time as focusing in the match is very important”, she added.
As far as the doubles final is concerned, Liezel Huber teamed up with Lindsay Davenport knocked down Zheng Jie and Chan Yung-jan with a final match score of 7-5, 6-7 (8), 10-8.
The victory came as Lindsay’s first one after a period of two years. Davenport won her last WTA title at Memphis back in 2008.
As far as Victoria is concerned, she turned twenty one on Saturday but decided to delay her celebrations till the final battle.
“I want to celebrate with my families and buddies”, said Azarenka, who will play the opening match of the San Diego tournament today. “I want an ice cream, cake sweets and loads of gifts”, she added.
Victoria was granted prize money of $107,000 as a result of her victory against Sharapova that came after a period of three years.
“I just tried to attack right from the start that did the trick for me in the end”, Victoria said. “When she starts well then its difficult to stop her, therefore I had to be on top from the start and thankfully I managed to follow my game plan pretty well”.
She grabbed six out of the total of eleven break points and also won fifty seven percent of her return points in the final battle.
“Her return was simply outstanding”, Sharapova after the match commented. Victoria when asked about her return said, “I had to play well with consistent returns against Sharapova as I had no other option”.
As a result, Victoria grabbed her fourth career trophy on Sunday that has also improved her rankings to as high as number twelve in the world. On the other hand, the Russian tennis ace, Maria Sharapova who was expecting to grab her third trophy this season rises to number thirteen in the rankings list.
“She has been listed as the top ten female tennis players in the past and therefore has the talent beyond any doubt”, Sharapova said about Victoria. The Russian will participate in Cincinnati as her next championship prior to the United States Open tournament this season.
“I don’t think that I served good enough”, she said. “I need to work on it for my future matches in order to avoid such results in the end”, Sharapova added.
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