Victoria Azarenka topples Maria Kirilenko to grab bronze medal – London Olympics 2012
Top seed, Victoria Azarenka, topped the Russian star, Maria Kirilenko, in straight sets at the London Olympics 2012, a major sports event taking place after every four years. She jolted down a 6-3, 6-4 victory against the 14th seeded Russian to
grab the bronze medal on Saturday.
The Belarusian number one showed her true colours at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet club. She eased past Kirilenko to claim Belarus’ maiden tennis medal.
Both contenders were facing each other for the fifth time and after pocketing this match, Azarenka improved to a 3-2 lifetime in the head-to-head series against the seeded Russian.
The jubilant Azarenka was quoted in a courtside interview after capturing her maiden medal:
"I felt so nervous today because it's not very usual for a tennis player to lose and come back the next day and play. It feels like everything came off my shoulders today. It was so incredibly hard but I'm so glad I did it."
Ranked top in the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Rankings, Azarenka high-spiritedly entered Games of x*x Olympiad. She drew the first blood in the second game and leaped to a 3-0 lead. Apart from losing her edge in the fifth game, the Belarusian
got the breakthrough in the eighth game, eventually sealing the opener by winning six games to three.
The 23-year-old maintained her intensity in the following set and cruised to a 3-0 with two breaks of serve. Despite losing her track afterwards and gifting away the proceeding three games, Azarenka capitalised on another break chance in the seventh game
to get the upper hand once again. She swiped her remaining serves with poise and carved out the victory with a 6-4 score line.
The world number one set up this battle after crashing out to the American top, Serena Williams, with a breadstick. She was broken early in the match and eventually suffered a brutal 1-6 loss in the opening set.
Azarenka failed to seek her rhythm, consequently losing the opening four games of the following set. Despite keeping her remaining serves, the Belarusian bowed out to the former world number one with a 2-6 defeat.
The 14th seed on the other hand was underplayed by her compatriot, Maria Sharapova, in brutal straight sets. Kirilenko broke the world number three serve once but was broken four times, eventually enduring a 2-6, 3-6 loss. She took a 3-2 lead
in the second set but stepped off steam afterwards.
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