Azarenka gets revenge on Serena for the loss of No.1 ranking, beats her in the Doha final

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Entering the final of the Qatar Total Open in Doha, Victoria Azarenka was 1-11 all-time against Serena Williams, including 0-5 last year, but now that she’s about to lose the No.1 ranking to the American, the-still-top-ranked Belarusian had extra fuel in her tank and overcame the otherwise overly dominant Williams to claim her second straight title at the tournament. Azarenka is now one of only four players that managed to beat Serena since April 2012, joining Virginie Razzano, Angelique Kerber and Sloane Stephens (Serena has won 60 of her last 64 matches).

After a first-round bye, the top-seeded Azarenka beat Romina Oprandi, Christina McHale, sixth seed Sara Errani, fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, not losing more than three games per set, but in the final encounter of the event, Azarenka faced a set point in the first-set tiebreak and lost the second set before taking a 3-0, and then a 5-2 lead in the third, to eventually win 7-6(6) 2-6 6-3. Both players finished the match with three winners more than unforced errors (Azarenka was 30-27, Serena 51-48), while Azarenka won just two points more than her opponent to snap a nine-match losing streak against her and earn $426,000 in prize money.

Both Azarenka and Williams are now heading to Dubai. Azarenka has a chance to win back her No.1 ranking, but she would have to reach the final of Dubai, and if Serena reaches it too, then Azarenka would have to beat her. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

7 COMMENTS

  1. Azarenka is undefeated in 2013!!

    It is an interesting twist that the now current best player isn’t the number 1 ranked player!!

    This is the same situation only with the players reversed that existed in the last half of 2012.

  2. Boom what a twist!
    Although Serena was near to loose against Petra, she could demolish again Maria, and following the stats i expected the same fate for Azarenka. But no
    I´ m surprised in a positive way, these two are building a huge rivalry, and of course the top 4 are making some distance with the rest.
    At my view the WTA is living her best moments in years, so as a tennis fan, big thanks to all this amazing players

  3. I don’t know why Serena lost it. She looked a little tired, I don’t know, but Azarenka’s shouting after hitting every single ball definitelt got on Serena’s nerves.

  4. Azarenka should be banned for the shrieking. Watching her distract her opponents with that relentless shrieking is an example of poor sportsmanship. Too bad the match wasn’t between the other shrieker as they deserve each other, and I decline to watch either of them.

  5. ljrich said: “… I decline to watch either of them.” So do I – whenever they play any decent player, that is. But… Oh boy, I wouldn’t miss the Ultimate Absurdity Epic Showdown: the Shriekah vs. the Whoopah! It’s better than any “Professional Wrestling” travesty – chair-smacking, balls-wrenching, and the rest of it -, believe you me.

  6. Serena was clearely not playing at her best she was sick and just play the tournement to get the world number 1… i think next time we will see another result..

  7. Still I can’t believe it ! I think something’s going wrong about Serena 😀 It’s impossible become No.1 at 31 ! It’s really interesting 😀 But I dunno.

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