Victoria Azarenka conquers Maria Sharapova in Beijing – China Open 2012
Reigning world number one, Victoria Azarenka, hoodwinked the second seed Russian superstar, Maria Sharapova, in the grand finale of the China Open to clinch the title. She ousted the 25-year-old competitor in straight sets 6-3,
6-1 to claim her maiden trophy at Beijing.
It was a complete one-sided clash, witnessing a barrage of unforced errors from the former world number one, Sharapova. The combination of sublime winners from the 23-year-old Belarusian with those silly mistakes from the Russian
ended the encounter in quick succession. It was never a contest at all and the head-to-head lead of Azarenka continues to grow solid especially on hard courts. She is now 7-4 in the face-offs against the Russian superstar.
In an interview at the end of the match, Azarenka said, “I was doing the right things, making sure I didn't let Maria play the game she likes, always being in control and dominating. Of course it wasn't possible for me to do that
every single point, but for the most part I was trying to keep up with her rhythm, and when I had the chance just try to step it up and be in control myself. I tried to take that opportunity and move forward.”
She further added about the unforced errors made by Sharapova, “As for her mistakes, I'm not really looking for them, but I'm looking to provoke them, looking to make them happen. She's not just going to stay there and miss.”
The opening set witnessed two consecutive breakpoints coupled with comfortable serve holds for the Belarusian. She never allowed the Russian to settle and play her natural game. The pace of the returns was just too much for Sharapova
to open up and hit the ball at will. A little cameo from the Russian helped her to lower the trail to 3-5 but a hard fought breakthrough for the right-handed Belarusian in the ninth game ended the opening phase.
The second set witnessed a more embarrassing start for the Russian blonde. She failed to hold serve on two successive occurrences and couldn’t yield a breakpoint in the three return games that gave a stupendous lead of 5-0 to the
Belarusian. It was just a matter of time for Azarenka before she could put her hands on the trophy. A little fight from Sharapova couldn’t keep the set alive in the seventh game and she fall victim to the onslaught of Azarenka for the fourth time in the season.
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