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Serena Williams had snatched her top spot already. Victoria Azarenka was in no mood to give away her title too. She didn’t. |
After nine straight losses, Azarenka finally got some measure of Williams when she won the Qatar Total Open final at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex here yesterday.
The top seed’s 7-6 (6) 2-6 6-3 win was her first over Williams since her victory in the Miami final in 2009. Between those two wins, Williams had dropped just two sets against Azarenka in her nine consecutive wins.
Yesterday, however, was different. The famed Williams serve came under pressure right from the word go, giving away a break point to Azarenka in a matter of minutes. She wriggled out of it with an ace and then eventually held her serve but the Belarussian won the next 12 points to take a 3-1 lead.
Williams broke Azarenka’s serve in the eighth game to bring in parity, which eventually had to be decided in a tie-breaker.
Williams had been struggling with the serve all this week but had shown signs of improvement in the semifinal against Maria Sharapova. Yesterday, the serve deteriorated again.
“My serve, oh, my gosh,” Williams exclaimed at the press conference after the match. “It was just one of those days. I’m having too many of those days. I’ve got to cut them out.”
The American cut down on her errors by almost a third – from 26 to 11 – to gain the upper hand in the second set. Coupled with four double faults at critical times in the set by Azarenka, it looked like Williams was on a roll. It was only the third set Azarenka dropped this year and the first in the tournament.
Things looked ominous for Azarenka when she began the third set with a double fault but she managed to hold the serve. She then took advantage of four second serves by Williams to take a decisive 2-0 lead in the set.
RUNNER-UP: Serena
Williams’s comeback from 1-4 down in the Kvitova match was talked about. That was not to be.
Three championship points later, Azarenka pointed at her box before thumping her chest to celebrate her 14th victory this year.
“I just wanted to fight, you know give it my best, give myself every opportunity to get myself back (into the game),” Azarenka said after the match. “I started with 0-30 and you know I had to keep it together because Serena was on a roll. I knew (if I had let this go) she was going to bring her A-game. I had to really step up my game and I am glad I did that.”
At the presentation ceremony, the rapport between the two was evident; they chatted, smiled. Asked what were they chatting about, Azarenka said, “Oscar parties. I feel like we are big competitors on the court. Once the game is over, we are respectful and normal people.”
Williams thought she was lucky to be playing the final with the level of tennis she had dished out this week. “I just don’t think I played my best tennis, and, you know, I was fighting every match.
“Then I was just really excited to make it to the final with the game I was playing all week. You know, I can’t play that quality game against a top player like Victoria. I have to be able to pick up my game, and I wasn’t able to do that today. I stayed at a 2 out of a 10, and I can’t play that low,” she said.
The 15-time Grand Slam champion was happy that she will have the world number one ranking when it is published today. “I think Victoria played really well today. I can’t say that I’m depressed like I am whenever I lose. I’m definitely not happy, but I’m No. 1,” she said.
“Honestly, the way the week started out, I wasn’t sure I would get there. I thought, you know, maybe I won’t make it. It’s nice to always play someone that you go home and you’re like, ‘Okay, I didn’t do great, but let me work harder’. I think that, you know, she inspires I think a lot of people to work harder, and definitely me.”
Azarenka agreed too: “Any tournament, I’m happy to play against Serena. She’s absolutely right. I feel like we’re pushing each other to go to the limit every time, to step up, to improve, and that’s a tremendous motivation to have. You always know that somebody out there wants to push you. For me, it’s an incredible privilege to be in that position.”