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Key Biscayne, Fla.-- World No. 10 Victoria Azarenka showed
no signs of nerves in her first Premier-level final as she defeated No. 1
Serena Williams 6-3, 6-1 on Saturday to deny the American an all-time record
sixth Sony Ericsson Open title.
At the age of 19 years, eight months,
Azarenka becomes only the sixth teenage champion in tournament history, joining
the distinguished list of Monica Seles (16 years, four months in 1990), Martina
Hingis (16 years, six months in 1997), Steffi Graf (17 years, eight months
in 1987), Venus Williams (17 years, nine months in 1998) and Gabriela Sabatini
(18 years, 10 months in 1989).
Her success at the Sony Ericsson
Open will see Azarenka rise from No. 10 to a career-high No. 8 in the Sony
Ericsson WTA Tour Rankings on Monday. The Belarusian began the season ranked
No. 16, but after winning her first two WTA Tour singles titles at Brisbane
(d. Bartoli) and Memphis (d. Wozniacki) and reaching the semifinals at the
Premier-level event in Indian Wells (l. to Zvonareva) two weeks ago, her
ranking improved to No. 10 coming into the Sony Ericsson Open.
"I was so happy," said Azarenka.
"It was the biggest win of my career so far. I was just so happy to finish
that match, because I was getting a little bit nervous in the end."
The 27-year-old Williams was looking
to win an all-time record sixth women's singles title at the Sony Ericsson
Open; she currently shares the record of five titles with Steffi Graf. She
is currently tied with the German former-great for seven final appearances
at the Sony Ericsson Open. She finished runner-up to elder sister Venus in
the 1999 final before capturing three successive titles in 2002 (d. Capriati),
2003 (d. Capriati) and 2004 (d. Dementieva). She regained the title in 2007
with victory over Justine Henin and defeated Jelena Jankovic to clinch her
fifth title last year.
The American cemented her place
atop the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Rankings after defeating Venus Williams in
the semifinals on Thursday evening. On Monday she will begin her 10th consecutive
week at No. 1, since reclaiming the ranking by winning her 10th Grand Slam
singles championship at the Australian Open with victory over Dinara Safina.
Had she lost before the final in Miami, she would have relinquished her hold
on the top spot to Safina, despite the Russian’s third-round exit to
Samantha Stosur.
In the lead-up to Saturday’s
final, Azarenka had surrendered just one set in five matches – enjoying
straight sets wins over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, No. 22 seed Anna Chakvetadze,
No. 25 Agnes Szavay and Samantha Stosur before battling past 2006 champion
and eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinal.
The right-hander carried her strong
form into the final and made life difficult for Williams, who was struggling
with ankle and quad injuries that she later explained restricted her movement
left, right and forward. Azarenka capitalized on Williams’ early errors
to break and lead 2-1 as the American netted a forehand. However, her lead
was short-lived as Williams immediately leveled at 2-2 as Azarenka fired
a forehand long.
Big hitting from the Belarusian
was rewarded in the seventh game as she earned a 15/40 advantage. Williams
denied Azarenka on both opportunities before giving her a third chance as
she landed a forehand long. A cry of frustration from the American told the
story as another unforced error saw Azarenka recoup her break advantage to
lead 4-3.
Azarenka continued to pressure Williams
and keep her running and she clinched the one-set lead in the ninth game
as the American netted a backhand on Azarenka’s fourth set point.
The second set saw no improvement
for Williams, who continued to struggle with her movement and the unforced
errors were a prominent feature of the American’s game. She found herself
down 15/40 in the fourth game and Azarenka assumed a 3-1 lead as Williams
committed one of five double faults in the match.
A 30th unforced error from Williams
saw her trail 0-40 in the sixth game and the fearless Azarenka was quick
to take advantage, rifling a forehand winner down-the-line to lead 5-1. In
a nervy final game, Azarenka squandered two match points and saved two break
points before earning a third opportunity to clinch victory as Williams returned
serve long. At the third time of asking Azarenka prevailed when Williams’
rallying backhand landed long of the baseline after 72 minutes of play.
"I was more consistent and more
aggressive," assessed Azarenka. "I would say I was always trying to put pressure
and I was just believing in myself so much. No matter what, I have to play
and keep going and I can win. I think I controlled [my emotions] very well
for the first big final. I wasn't getting upset on any ball. I was just happy
to play every point."
Azarenka had come close to defeating
Williams in their last meeting in the Australian Open third round, when she
led the eventual champion 6-3, 2-4 before retiring due to dizziness and illness.
She now improves to a 23-2 match record on the season.
“I think she's really, really
improved,” said Williams of Azarenka. “I actually look forward
to playing her again so I can play a little better and obviously do better.
But I think she obviously has potential and she's going to be a really good
player.
“She's an all round good player.
It actually makes my feel good, because it makes me want to do better and
work harder.”
Williams was looking to win her
34th WTA Tour singles title and drops to a 33-13 record in finals. As well
as clinching the Australian Open title, the Florida resident has reached
semifinals at Sydney (l. to Dementieva), Paris (w/o vs. Dementieva) and Dubai
(l. to V. Williams). She has a 21-3 match record in 2009.
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