Although she was the stand-out player of 2012, Vika Azarenka was missing something from what has become an impressive resume: a victory over her nemesis, Serena Williams. The two have been battling hard throughout the last nine months, with the American winning most of those disputes relatively easy. The only exception was the US Open final, where the edgy Belorussian served for the title, before being pegged back by her extraterrestrial opponent.
With Williams clearly dominating the rivalry in 2012, Vika was eager to get a new start in 2013. However, after her doubtful withdrawal from Brisbane 30 minutes before their semifinal clash, there were many voices accusing her of deliberately avoiding her biggest rival out of fear. Then Serena's surprising defeat to teen sensation, Sloane Stephens, delayed a mouth-watering match between the two in Melbourne. In Serena's absence there aren't many players who can beat Vika and she proved that by winning her second straight Australian Open crown. As a matter of fact, the world No.1 has only lost four matches to someone other than Serena since the start of the 2012 season (i.e. once to Bartoli, twice to Sharapova and once to Cibulkova).
The inevitable finally happened in Doha, where the duo qualified for the final, Serena leapfrogging Azarenka as the new world No.1 courtesy of her quarterfinal win over Kvitova. Deprived of her status, Victoria came out firing, forcing he opponent into numerous mistakes of her right side. While the American struggled to find her booming serve, Vika showed a much improvement service to stun a visibly irritated Williams. The set went to a tie-break and the Belorussian proved just how tough mentally she is, holding off a set point to eventually close out the proceedings. Serena came back strong in the second act, winning it 6-2 to level the dispute. Azarenka was not ready to surrender though and she fought back. She broke early in the decider and served superbly to seal off an extraordinary victory to defend her title.
What I loved most about Victoria's performance was her stellar mental strength. She didn't go away in the first set when Williams levelled and, most importantly, she didn't choke when serving for the match, as she did at Flushing Meadows. I think in her case, what's bigger than her tennis is her attitude, an attitude that took her to the top of the game. Compared to Safina, Jankovic, Radwanska or Wozniacki, she isn't afraid of a fierce battle. She is utterly confident in herself, she genuinly believes she can beat anyone and she has the weapons to do so, even when it comes to the intangible Serena Williams. With so many questioning her legitimacy, I am really glad to see Vika turning the tables on her nemesis. Although she dropped to No.2, she is the biggest winner of this week in Doha.
Williams and Azarenka will continue their rivalry for the No.1 ranking in Dubai, where the latter can reclaim her spot if the results work in her favour.
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| Although she lost the No.1 ranking to Serena this week, Azarenka showed she's the leading female player of the moment, beating the American 7-6,2-6,6-3 to successfully defend her Doha title. This was Vika's just second victory over her nemesis. |
photos: GETTY IMAGES
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