Maria Sharapova just a title away from claiming the number one spot – Tennis Special
World number two, Maria Sharapova, is having the best time of her life; playing with the hearts of the fans with her hair-cut rumour and then giving them the most awaited news of the day by beating the Belarusian world number one,
Victoria Azarenka, in the final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, contested in Stuttgart.
She is closing up on the number one spot and planning to dethrone the Belarusian who deprived her of the fourth Grand Slam title of the career in the Australian Open final, earlier this year. She was unable to solve the mystery
in the final of the BNP Paribas Open as well but finally got over the psychological pressure and slaughtered Azarenka in Stuttgart. There is a difference of just 340 points between the two players and it can be diminished in the Mutua Madrid Open.
Sharapova is coming up with a title under her belt and Azarenka has just lost to her so it will be another epic contest if the two top seeds manage to make it to the final of the fourth tournament this year. At the moment, Sharapova
hasn’t drop a single set in the tournament and is scheduled to take on another former world number one, Serena Williams, who is also eager to get her hands on a big title.
The Belarusian survived scares in the opening round against the Russian tennis icon, Svetlana Kuznetsova and powered down a former world number one, Ana Ivanovic, in the third round to book a date with the Chinese number one star,
Li Na. It will be another mind-startling event if these two lock horns and contest for the title. However, the odds for Sharapova are definitely higher and she is the one to reclaim her number one spot, the place where she belongs.
Everyone wants another Sharapova-Azarenka matchup in the final of the Mutua Madrid Open. They would like to see the Russian tennis ace slaughtering the Belarusian for the second time in a row and rise to the number one rank in
the world. Azarenka has already deprived her of that spot after winning the Australian Open final; so, Sharapova needs to perform better and power down her arch rival this time around.
The tension is definitely high between the two players. The shoulder bump video in the final of Stuttgart is a clear cut message to all the followers that they are out there to win titles and means business. No consolations should
be expected.
Seeing the overall picture, I would tilt the final in favour of the Russian because he deserves to be the number one player in the world. However, the Belarusian has proved her worth by registering a majestic record of 32-2 this
year and showed all her critics that she is the deserving number one player but still Sharapova came across niggling injuries and fought extremely hard against her medical illness in 2011 to make a comeback in the Australian Open 2012. There is no doubt that
both of them are deserving number one at the moment but there can be only one and my pick is the Russian beauty queen.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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