Victoria Azarenka vs. Maria Sharapova: Final Preview – China Open 2012
Tiki-taka between the Top-2 ranked women in the world continues in the final of the China Open on Sunday. It is going to be another mouth-watering contest between the shrieking queens; world number one, Victoria Azarenka, takes
on the likes of the Russian second seed superstar, Maria Sharapova, in an enthralling contest for the pursuit of the China Open title in Beijing.
In 2007, the Belarusian underdog swept away the second seed wildcard entrant, Maria Sharapova, in the second round of the Kremlin Cup to register her first head-to-head win. Who knew that the young star will become the greatest
rival of the Russian blonde in the coming future? Sharapova came back to win two matches in the year 2009 that helped her to take a lead of 2-1 in the head-to-head series. One of the win came in the second round of the China Open.
The next two years witnessed two victories for the Belarusian superstar who regained the head-to-head lead with the scores of 3-2. Last year, the quarter-final of the Italian Open equalized the scores at 3-3 between the two players.
However, it was just the start of something massive rivalry that is witnessed in 2012.
In the final of the Australian Open, the two shrieking queens met in a ‘screamathon’ and Azarenka hammered the Russian very badly; grabbed the maiden Grand Slam title as well as the number one spot in the world. She repeated a
similar performance in the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells as well and made it 2-0 for the current season. The Russian thumped Azarenka in straight sets in the final of the Italian Open that lowered the head-to-head trail. However, the Belarusian won an epic
semi-final at the US Open in New York; rallying from a set down to make it 6-4 in the head-to-head series.
It will be a fifth tie between the two superstars of women tennis this season. Azarenka has won three off the meetings with Sharapova just been able to bag one of the clashes. Both athletes will be looking to put their best performance
in order to clinch the title. Following are the victims of both athletes during the tour of Beijing:
Victoria Azarenka:
Alize Cornet in round one (6-1, 6-0)
Sabine Lisicki in round two (6-4, 6-2)
Elena Vesnina in round three (6-3, 6-3)
Romina Oprandi in quarters (6-2, 6-0)
Marion Bartoli in semis (6-4, 6-2)
Maria Sharapova:
Simona Halep in round one (7-5, 7-5)
Sorana Cirstea in round two (6-2, 6-2)
Polona Hercog in round three (6-0, 6-2)
Angelique Kerber in quarters (6-0 3-0 Ret.)
Li Na in semis (6-4, 6-0)
So, the above results state that Azarenka has just lost 15 games in the tournament and is yet to lose a set whilst Sharapova has lost 20 games in the contest and she hasn’t lost a set as well. There is no doubt that both players
are in the best run of forms at the moment; completing hammering their opponents to all corners of the court and showing no respect at all to the seeded players as well.
It is time for Sharapova to step up a gear and show Azarenka about her class. I will go with the 25-year-old Russian blonde; whose your pick?
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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