 |
| *Williams |
 |
| *Azarenka |
What’s a tennis tournament without a challenge? Boring, according to Victoria Azarenka.
The world No. 2 faces her biggest challenge of the Brisbane International in Saturday’s final against Serena Williams.
Top-ranked Williams maintained her fearsome hold over arch rival Maria Sharapova with yet another victory against the Russian Friday to book her place in the title decider.
The defending champion's 6-2 7-6 (9-7) win was her 14th straight against Sharapova and 15th in 17 meetings between the two.
Williams, who had seven double faults, admitted she needed to improve for the final.
"I'm going to have to just play better," Williams said.
"I definitely need to play a lot better and I have to serve better, so hopefully I'll be able to do that."
Williams enjoys a 13-3 win-loss record against Azarenka, although the Belarussian won two of their four meetings last year.
Azarenka has already overcome significant hurdles in this tournament.
On Friday, she was forced to fight hard for her final berth during a 1-6 6-3 6-4 semi-final win over Serbia's Jelena Jankovic.
Azarenka had squandered nine match points in her quarter-final against Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland the previous night and she looked rattled early against Jankovic.
But she was satisfied with her ability to dig her way out of trouble against quality opposition just 10 days before the Australian Open.
"I always want to play against the best players every week - that's what I'm here for, to go every day and try to beat the best," Azarenka said.
No comments:
Post a Comment