Victoria Azarenka vs. Maria Sharapova: Final Preview – Australian Open 2012
Stage is set for the grand finale of the Australian Open tournament on Saturday. The two beauty queens of tennis, Maria Sharapova of Russia and Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, will face-off at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne to
contest for the year’s first Grand Slam title. Azarenka is playing her first Major final whilst her competitor is going to make sixth Grand Slam final appearance.
Both women are ready to put everything on the line for the coveted championship title. Their performance throughout the tournament clearly depicted that they were out there for some serious business. The Belarusian ousted the eighth
seed, Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarters and pinned down the defending champion, Kim Clijsters, in the semis. On the other hand, Sharapova, , turned the tables on her German opponent, Sabine Lisicki, after losing the opening set in the fourth round before
she was tested to limits by the reigning world number two, Petra Kvitova, in the semi-final.
With massive victories under their belts, both contestants build up to an enthralling and gruelling encounter on Saturday. Interestingly the head-to-head scores are also levelled at 3-3 for both players; Azarenka is ranked number
three in the world whilst Sharapova is just one rank lower than her; so there is absolutely nothing between the two players that can be distinguished at this stage. It is going to take something extraordinary for both of them to pound on to their opponent.
Reigning world number one, Caroline Wozniacki, will stay on the top of the rankings for just few more hours because the winner of the contest will climb to the top of the rankings; there are not one but two things simultaneously
on the line. Azarenka is eyeing her first Slam title as well as the top ranking whilst Sharapova is looking to reclaim her throne and once again become the world number one with the Australian Open crown.
Prolonged injury layoff seemed to have brought back the vintage form of Sharapova to because she is absolutely devastating at the courts at the moment, dropping just two sets throughout the tournament to reach to the grand finale.
Azarenka, on the other hand, has been consistent for the past one year with her performances and rightly deserved to have a shot at the Slam title for her non-stop hard work.
Sharapova has the slight advantage of playing at elite stages before and it might ease her nerves a bit, whereas the Belarusian contender will be a bit nervous at the start of the match. The Russian is also coming after a major
injury layoff and haven’t contested in the Slam finale for the past three years; so that advantage can be written-off but spectators are ensured of an enthralling encounter.
Both players are known to be too loud at the courts so the match is already named as a ‘screamathon’. The 22-years-old Belarusian diva takes on 24-years-old Russian beauty queen; what more can you expect from the world of women
tennis?
Sharapova might edge this one with the sparkle of her experience and crowd support but any result can take place.
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