Victoria Azarenka vs. Serena Williams: Semi-final preview – Brisbane International 2013
Season-opening Brisbane International will witness another cracking encounter on Friday when two of the world’s best tennis athletes will compete against one another in the semi-final draw. The reigning world number one, Victoria
Azarenka, will take on the former top ranked American, Serena Williams, to earn a title shot.
It will be the 13th head-to-head battle between these two world class performers and Azarenka will be looking to break Williams’ dominance in the new season. The third ranked American has been absolutely phenomenal against
Azarenka in the past two years and leads the head-to-head series by 11-1. She won nine encounters against the Belarusian on the trot since her 2009 Wimbledon Championships quarter-final. The lone victory Azarenka had was at the 2009 Miami Masters, when she
overwhelmed Williams in straight sets to claim the WTA Premier title. She hasn’t been able to cope with Williams’ power hitting since then and never won a single match till date.
Azarenka has been off to a fiery start at the Brisbane International, posting two cracking straight sets victories to reach the round of four. She outplayed the German tennis ace, Sabine Lisicki, and then went on to devastate the
Kazakh qualifier, Ksenia Pervak, in the quarter-finals to book a date with Williams. No doubt the top ranked Belarusian is one of the most feared contestants on the WTA Tour but her performances against Williams haven’t been satisfactory, especially during
the last year. She lost all the five matches against the American in 2012 despite being the world number one. It is something she will not desire to carry on and Friday’s matchup is a perfect time for the Azarenka to break Williams’ nine-match winning streak
against her.
On the other hand, Williams was expected to be a bit sloppy in the season-opening tournament due to her recent toes surgery. However, she has been as belligerent as ever in the opening two matches of Brisbane International. Williams
sidelined Sweden’s Sofia Arvidsson in the second round and then took down her compatriot, Sloane Stephens, in the quarter-finals to meet Azarenka.
"I want to thank Sloane for giving me such a great match, because I'm going up against another good player - great player - tomorrow," Williams said of Azarenka. "I have to make sure I'm ready. I always feel like I have nothing
to lose, especially going against Victoria, who I think has been the most consistent player the last year. I have nothing to prove. I'll just go out there and do the best I can."
It will be a match worth watching, as Williams’ voyage to the world number one spot begins from here. She is determined to dethrone Azarenka this year and a season-opening title victory can be very helpful to meet her cause.
Tags: