AZARENKA IS THROUGH

Victoria Azarenka has made her way into the title round of the ongoing Southern California Open by defeating Ana Ivanovic of Serbia. Azarenka won the match in three sets by 6-0, 4-6, 6-3.

It was not a fluent performance by the Belarusian player who is ranked 3^rd in the world at the moment. She started quite amazingly, but, after that opening set, her performance started to deteriorate. She started making a lot of unforced errors all of a sudden. However, she was able to pull things back in the decider and won the match.

Talking to the reporters in the post match interview, Azarenka said, “You don’t have easy matches all the time. Sometimes, you have to fight your way through. It was that kind of a match for me. I made some mistakes, but, I am glad that the outcome was in my favour.”

In the opening set, Azarenka went berserk. With three serve breaks on the trot, she secured a bagel to win the set with ease

But, in the proceeding set, the Belarusian player couldn’t show the same kind of intensity. Her serve was broken in the second game and she lost the first 3 games successively to get down by 0-3.

The next 3 games went with the serve and at the end of the 6^th game; Ivanovic was leading by 4-2.

Azarenka got a breakthrough in the 7^th game and then, by holding her serve in the next game, she equalized the scores.

However, the Belarusian player again dropped her serve in the 10^th game and the set went in Ivanovic’s favour.

In the decider, there were no serve breaks in the first 4 games and the scores were levelled at 2-2.

After that, Ivanovic lost the plot. She served poorly and dropped her serve twice in the next 5 games to lose the set by 3-6.

In the final match, Azarenka will take on Samantha Stosur of Australia.

SCHIAVONE MISSES OUT

Francesca Schiavone has been defeated by Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the fourth round of the French Open. Azarenka won the match in the straight sets by 6-3, 6-0.

There was big difference in the world rankings of these two players; still, it was supposed to be a tight game because of the massive experience of Schiavone. But, the craftiness of the Italian player didn’t prove to be good enough against the power game of Azarenka.

The Belarusian superstar who has been given the third seed in this tournament just blew her opponent away in both the sets.

This win took Azarenka into the quarter final round of the competition.

In the first set, the first two games went with the serve and the scorecard was showing 1-1 when the 2^nd game ended. A breakthrough for Azarenka in the 3^rd game gave her a lead of 2-1, but, Schiavone broke back immediately to level the scores.

Azarenka broke her opponent’s serve for the second consecutive time in the 5^th game, but, yet again, she got broken back which kept the scores levelled at 3-3.

Schiavone continued serving poorly and dropped her serve again in the 7^th game. This time, Azarenka managed to consolidate that serve break with a serve hold in the 8^th game to take a lead of 5-3.

With another breakthrough in the 9^th game, the Belarusian player sealed the opener by 6-3.

In the second set, Azarenka looked in a hurry. She smashed a flurry of winners and wiped out the first 6 games in no time to finish off the match.

In the quarter final round, Azarenka will take on the Russian player Maria Kirilenko who made her way into the final 8 by defeating Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

OLYMPICS MEANS MORE

Victoria Azarenka has said that winning a medal in the Olympics is more important to her than being the no. 1 player in the world.

Azarenka had won the Gold medal in the mixed doubles competition of London Olympics. Her partner in that event was Max Mirnyi. The Belarusian pair had defeated the British pair of Laura Robson and Andy Murray by 2-6, 6-3, 10-8.

That was not the only medal won by Azarenka in London Olympics. She had won the Bronze medal in the singles competition as well.

When asked what is more important to her- being at the top of the world rankings or winning an Olympic medal, Azarenka said, “Off course, it’s the Olympic medal. The value of an Olympic medal is immense. It can’t be compared to anything else, not even the no. 1 ranking in the world.”

“In the Olympics, you play for your country and that’s the biggest thing for a sportsperson. Winning something for nation is what all sportspersons dream about.”

“When I was a child, I also used to dream about winning an Olympic medal and finally, when I got one last year, I got emotional. It was really the happiest moment that I have ever had in my career.”

“The no. 1 ranking in the world is only an indication of how you are playing at the moment. If you win matches consistently, you will get there. Similarly, if you have bad run in some tournaments, you will go down. So, it’s something which is always changing.”

Azarenka’s current world ranking is 3. She has had tremendous time this year. She is yet to suffer a defeat this season.

Azarenka has been out of action since the last few weeks because of her ankle injury. But, she is expected to be back for the upcoming clay court tournament in Stuttgart.

AZARENKA PULLS OUT

The no. 3 player in the world, Victoria Azarenka, has withdrawn her name from the ongoing Sony Open because of her ankle injury.

The Belarusian had to play her first match in the tournament on Friday, but, before the match, she announced her withdrawal from the tournament.

Announcing her withdrawal, Azarenka said, “The condition of my ankle has not improved at all. I am still having problems in moving. I went to practice yesterday, but, I didn’t feel comfortable at all while practicing. So, I have decided that I will not take part in this tournament.”

“It’s really frustrating to miss tournaments when you are in good form. I was eager to play in this tournament.”

Azarenka had discovered this ankle injury while playing against Urszula Radwanska of Poland in the fourth round of BNP Paribas Open. The Belarusian managed to win that match in straight sets despite being in a lot of pain.

Azarenka had to play against Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the next match, but, she decided not to take part in that match as her injury had worsened.

At the start of this week, Azarenka had said that she would recover before the Sony Open, but, unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

Azarenka has had a fabulous run in this season so far. She hasn’t been beaten yet in the season. She has played a total of 17 matches and has won all of them.

She has won a couple of titles i.e. Australian Open and Doha Open.

However, despite performing so well in this season, Azarenka has slipped down in the world rankings. She had begun the season as the no. 1 player in the world, but, now, she is at the third position in the world rankings.

AZARENKA THROUGH THIRD ROUND

Victoria Azarenka has defeated Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open. Azarenka won the match by 3-6, 6-3, 6-0.

Azarenka struggled a bit in the first set, but, in the next two sets, she showed why she is considered as a great player. Azarenka who has been given the top seed in this tournament will play against Urszula Radwanska of Poland in the next round. Read more »

AZARENKA WINS

Victoria Azarenka has defeated Elena Vesnina of Russia in the fourth round of the Australian Open. Azarenka won the match in the straight sets by 6-1, 6-1. With this victory, Azarenka has moved into the quarter finals. It was a brilliant effort by the world no. 1. She won the match in just 57 minutes and knocked Vesnina out of the tournament.

Azarenka has been in fine form in this tournament and she was expected to secure an easy victory over Vesnina. The speculations turned out to be true and Azarenka didn’t have to work hard at all to defeat Vesnina. She dominated right through the match. Read more »