Victoria Azarenka on-roads to a Calendar Grand Slam – Tennis Special
Dominating the women’s tennis world at the present, the world number one Victoria Azarenka is bagging championship titles at will in the running WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) season. She has already conquered four titles this
year, including the all-prestigious Grand Slam trophy, the Australian Open. The question remains that can the belligerent Belarusian register a Calendar Grand Slam this season?
The 22-year-old tennis diva has suffered merely one loss this year and her sublime form has propelled her to the world number one spot. Azarenka took off the 2012 WTA season in an explosive fashion, beating a number of top-class
players with commanding ease and stamping her authority over the game. She is 29-1 in the current professional circuit and looking even stronger.
Already 12 championship titles in her bag, Azarenka desires to clinch all the remaining Grand Slams this season. The Belarusian’s aggression on court is feared by a number of top class players and her hard-hitting technique has
earned her a unique place among the winners’ circle. The 22-year-old has a solid defence and her thumping forehand winners are always a challenge for her opponents to handle.
Azarenka started off her dream run of the season from Apia Sydney International, overcoming Marion Bartoli, Agnieszka Radwanska and the Roland Garros champion, Li Na, to lift the circuit-opening title. She was seeded at number
three in the Grand Slam Down Under and exhibited eye-startling performances throughout the mega event to earn a title shot in the final. She faced the three-time Grand Slam winner, Maria Sharapova, in the final and posed the performance of her lifetime to
overwhelm the Russian beauty queen. She outclassed Sharapova in straight sets, 6-3, 6-0, forcing her way to lift her first Australian open title. Azarenka not only won her maiden Grand Slam title but also toppled over Caroline Wozniacki to claim the number
one spot in the WTA World Rankings.
Her sublime form continued in the WTA championship in Doha and she defeated the then world number five, Samantha Stosur, in the final to win her third successive title of the year. Azarenka met Sharapova in the final of the year’s
first WTA Premier Mandatory event in Indian wells. She repeated the similar feat in the title match once again and took down the world number two Russian in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, stretching her winning streak of the season to 23 matches.
Azarenka’s 26-match unbeaten streak was finally halted in Miami, when she lost her quarter-final match to France’s Marion Bartoli in twin sets, 3-6, 3-6. She marched into yet another WTA event final in Stuttgart and went one-on-one
against Sharapova for the third time this year. Azarenka was the hot favourite for winning the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany but the second seeded Sharapova posed an eye-startling performance to stun the reigning world number one to lift
the WTA title.
A title win in Stuttgart could have proven extremely vital in Azarenka’s preparation for registering a Calendar Grand Slam. With the Roland Garros French Open about to begin next month, a championship victory at a clay court event
would have certainly boosted up her confidence to a whole new level. The Belarusian is currently in the form of her life and no doubt she can win all the three Grand Slam tournaments left in the season.
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