The Princess of China

Riding on a 26 match winning streak, Victoria Azarenka seemed destined for greatness in 2012 as the Belorussian was winning title after title, destroying her opponents in the most effortless of manners. It took one loss though to shake up her confidence and destroy her invincibility aura. As previously feared, that first loss of the season proved tough to swallow and, after succumbing to Marion Bartoli in Miami, Azarenka found it extremely hard to return to her winning ways. She maintained an impressive consistency in all the tournaments she entered, but the spark was missing and, for whatever reason she was unable to emerge victorious in another tournament since. 

Although she experienced great showing at both Wimbledon and the Olympics and was within a few points of winning the US Open, Azarenka was incapable of ending the title drought. She looked poised to do so in Tokyo a week ago, but some medical issues forced her to withdraw before her quarterfinal clash with Angelique Kerber. Though her participation in Beijing was clouded by the mysterious illness, impressively enough she showed no sign of distress, cruising through to the semifinals at the expense of just 15 games. Although she dominated her opponents, she did come out on top of some really challenging encounters, especially those against big-hitter Sabine Lisicki and the rejuvenated  Russian Elena Vesnina. Things promised to be getting even trickier when she faced French Marion Bartoli for a place in the final. 

Marion is a player that on a given day can beat absolutely anybody. Azarenka learnt this the hard way as she saw her unbeatable start to the season end when the two last took to court in Miami. Due to her unusual shots and peculiar court demeanour, Marion's game is a constant threat for the Belorussian. The first set of their Beijing clash provided another evidence of that. Although Marion was battling hard for most of the opener, a few unlucky points shifted the balance in Azarenka's favour. Having bagged the set, the Belorussian unleashed her full potential, as she quickly took charge of the match. Closing it out proved a mere formality, but the commanding win shows just how good the world number 1 really is. 

In the championship match, Victoria faced French Open winner, Maria Sharapova. Although, she usually is pretty successful against the Russian, Maria did manage to stun her in the Stuttgart final, before taking her to three sets in the Flushing Meadows semis. This final proved no such repeat though, as Victoria claimed a straightforward 6-3,6-1 victory. Having sealed her fifth title of the year, though first after Indian Wells way back in March, Azarenka is now targeting to end the season on the same high note as she started it. Let's do this!

Although many are claiming the current world number 1 is not a massive hit among tennis fans, Victoria is working hard to change all that. After her impressive showing this week in Beijing,  Azarenka won over millions of hearts becoming China's new darling.

photos: GETTY IMAGES