The Dancing Queen

Hoping to match her perfect start to the season, Victoria Azarenka has been building quite a run of form lately. After her dramatic loss to Serena in the US Open final, the world number 1 has been invincible, winning the title in Beijing before cruising through the draw in Linz to collect her second title in as many weeks. 

On her first trip to Linz, Victoria was utterly dominant on court and extremely jovial off court, the Belorussian doing double duty this week. In addition to destroying her opponents, she focused on entertaining the Austrian crowd, doing a little bit of LMFAO dancing, blowing kisses to the spectators and engaging in lengthy interviews.

Azarenka's route to the final was pretty straightforward, as she did not lose no more than four games in any of her four matches. And things seemed to follow the same scenario in the championship match, as she built a 6-3,5-0 lead against Julia Goerges. However, the German caught fire at that stage and, relying on some inspired shot making, she saved four match points, reeling off four straight games to get herself back into the set. Azarenka did not despair though and seized her opportunity, breaking Julia's serve to close out the match.

Although she stumbled a bit at the end, Victoria's week has been impressive. She is now 13-0 since Flushing Meadows, 26-0 in sets, and judging by the kind of form she's in, the Belorussian is one of the heavy favourites for the WTA Championships title in Istanbul, where she is last year's runner up.

Although she lost the final, Julia Goerges put in a brave display. She might have gotten into the match a bit too late, but at 3-6,0-5 the German caught fire, reeling off four straight games and seriously challenging the world number 1 before Azarenka was able to close out the match at the fifth time of asking.

photos (top-down): AP, GETTY IMAGES, Ralf Reinecke

Petkovic Back With A BANG

Sidelined since the beginning of the year with a lower back injury, the German number 1 made a much anticipated return with a Fed Cup appearance this past weekend, as Germany tackled Australia in the World Group Play-Off. 

Although she lost her singles round rubber to Sam Stosur, Andrea Petkovic made sure everyone took notice of her comeback by creating another 'Petko' moment. During the doubles match where she teamed up with compatriot Julia Goerges, she was asked to change her top as it was too different from her partner's. Slightly embarrassed by the odd request, she turned things around in true Petkovic fashion, making the delight of the crowd who witnessed her strip. The 'Petko Strip' made headlines around the world, becoming the German's second hit, after the now infamous 'Petko Dance'.

After the Fed Cup disappointment, the Germans being beaten 2-3 by Australia, Andrea has experienced a successful return to the tour, following a 6-1,6-4 first round victory over compatriot Kristina Barrois in Stuttgart. Next up for the popular Petkovic is a clash with world number 1, Victoria Azarenka. "I didn't watch a lot of tennis while I was out but I saw her winning streak and rise to No.1," she said. "I really think she's the best right now. She deserves to be No.1, and as a character and personality she's a proper No.1. It's a tough challenge, but as I said, this is why I play tennis."

photos (right-left): Reuters, AP

Stop Singing Your Heart Out

Although her form has dropped in the last few months, Caroline Wozniacki remains as positive as ever and determined to enjoy her life to the fullest. The former world number 1 is definitely not shy of getting all the attention. Thus, after some impersonalisations of fellow players, endless endorsement deals and a love affair lived on the front page of every newspaper around the world, she now targeted pop success. Relying on her pocketful of 'talents', the upbeat Dane agreed to record a charity single. Unfortunately for her though, the result was not at all convincing, Wozniacki's "Oxygen" being immediately mocked by music critics. The heavily auto-tuned track makes it almost impossible to clearly distinguish her voice, though the lyrics hint a reference to her golf superstar boyfriend, Irish Rory McIlroy.

Although she put her singing 'talents' solely into raising money for the Danish and Polish Paralympic teams, I hope Caroline will stick to what she does best and continue to 'sing' her heart out only on the tennis court.

Video taken from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5_dbcPMsK_Q#!.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Maria Sharapova was never one to strike as the funny kind. Her fierce determination and intense demeanour during a tennis match created her the image of a tough, extremely focused woman you wouldn't want to mess around with.

However, playing former world number 1 Caroline Wozniacki in an exhibition encounter in New York, the Russian revealed her upbeat, entertaining temper as she danced with a member of the audience before losing a memorable exchange with Wozniacki's boyfriend, the 21 years old Irishman, Rory McIlroy. 

It was great to witness the two leading ladies enjoying themselves out there, as they put on a great show for the packed Madison Square Garden Arena. Also, it is reassuring to see Wozniacki glimmer, especially as she has struggled lately with her form, a string of uncharacteristic losses putting an end to her two year reign atop of the rankings. Golfer number 1 must be doing an awesome job off the court, the pair looking more in love than ever. Sharapova is also happily in love, the Russian star announcing her plans of marrying her fiance, the NBA basketall superstar, Sasha Vujacic.

Quoting from some famous lyrics, when love is in the air, the shinny, happy people are holding hands and laugh. Maria and Caroline shared a rare tennis moment which could very well reinforce Cyndi Lauper's anthem 'Girls just wanna have fun'.

Hurricane Sabine Hits Dallas

At the same time as Irene hit the American East Coast, another hurricane took over the peaceful, climate friendly inaugural Dallas WTA stop. Sabine Lisicki caught fire after reuniting with her beloved grass courts. A title in Birmingham, a semifinal at Wimbledon and a steady run on the North American hardcourts and the German became one of the hottest player of the moment. Nevertheless, it wasn't until she reached Dallas, that the Sabine hurricane recorded its highest magnitude.

She was quick off the blocks, easily dismissing Indian Sania Mirza in the first round, 6-3,6-0. From there onwards, it was an easy ride for Lisicki, who managed to lose only 13 games on her way to her third career title. Relying on a power serve, tenacious footwork and heavy groundstrokes, the German was far too good for a rather open draw. When faced with her a challenge, all her opponents fell like flies. No one stood a chance to the German bulldozer, Sabine making light work in all of her matches. En route to the final, she destroyed Italian Alberta Brianti, Ukrainean Kateryna Bondarenko and Romanian Irina Begu. If some were expecting a tighter affair in the final against a recently rejuvenated Aravane Rezai, Lisicki proved them wrong. From two all in the first set, she went on to capture ten of the next eleven games and with them, the trophy.

With the prospect of bumping into unseeded Venus Williams in the second round, Sabine requires all the confidence in the world to ensure a long journey at this year's Flushing Meadows. Independent of the result of her US campaign, her comeback is more than spectacular. For a player who has seen her road to fame cut short by a horrible ankle injury, she has done wonders in making it back to the top.  It took her a while, but judging by her recent display, she doesn't look to have any plans of stopping here.

To add to the celebration, she was just announced the winner of the Xperia Hot Shots competition, surpassing fellow young stars Sorana Cirstea, Alize Cornet, Heather Watson, Dominika Cibulkova and Bethanie Mattek-Sands. After the thousands of fans voted for her, Sabine took home the coveted prize of 100k EUR courtesy of Sony Ericsson, the official WTA tour sponsor. Check out her Xperia Hot Shots profile video below:

photos (top-down / left-right): GETTY IMAGES, AP (x2)