Victoria Azarenka conquers Maria Sharapova and the China Open – Tennis Special
World number one, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, showed top notch performance to bulldoze her entire opponents, ultimately clicking the China Open without losing a set. She outclassed second seeded Maria Sharapova with a breadstick to conquer this WTA (Women’s
Tennis Association) Premier Mandatory event held in Beijing, China.
The 23-year-old unleashed flurry of groundstrokes from her box of tricks and eventually stole the show. She dominated throughout the tournament and eventually captured this outdoor hard court event.
Azarenka was quoted in post match press conference:
"To win the China Open is a dream for me, because I've never been able to do so well here - so to overcome that and win such a big title at the end of the year is just incredible. I'm really happy I came and I conquered here."
Seeded top in this event, Azarenka high-spiritedly entered the National Tennis Center in Beijing. She thundered into the Chinese courts and devastated the French contender, Alize Cornet, after losing her serve once. The Belarusian broke Cornet’s entire serves
and eventually sealed the deal with a 6-1, 6-0 victory in one hour and six minutes.
The Belarusian top ranked star kept momentum running towards the following round. She was broken twice but availed five out of nine break chances, eventually pulling out the victory with a 6-4, 6-2 score line against the German star, Sabine Lisicki.
In the pre-quarters, Azarenka tumbled the Russian qualifier, Elena Vesnina, in 93 minutes.
Azarenka lifted her game in the final eight and after reeling off last six games, she crushed the Swiss challenger, Romina Oprandi, with a bagel.
The high flying Belarus maintained consistency in her game against the ninth seed, Marion Bartoli. She stomped over the French number one in straight sets and set up a date with the world number two.
In the final showdown, Azarenka unveiled her class, eventually overpowering Sharapova in 88 minutes. She lost her serve once but cashed five out of 11 break chances to formulate a 6-3, 6-1 score line.
"Victoria played a really good match - she just did many things much better than I did. It's unfortunate to lose in the final, but after the results I've had here in the past, this was definitely a step in the right direction,” the former world number one
praised Azarenka after losing the match.
The Belarus is happy to carry her starting momentum till the end of the season. She is looking forward to play in a similar way in the following season.
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