The 23-year-old from Belarus started the year with a bang by winning her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, along with trophies in Sydney, Doha and Indian Wells. But Azarenka has repeatedly faltered at the last hurdle since, losing three finals including at last month’s US Open, where Serena Williams’ late recovery left her in tears.
On Sunday, she put her frustrations behind her with a 6-3, 6-1 thumping of world number two Maria Sharapova to seal her fifth title this year, second only to Williams’ six. And afterwards, she said she was not finished yet.
“I have two more tournaments to play, it’s going to be about 10 more matches, so I’m looking forward to maximising that potential in all of them,” said Azarenka. “It’s just going to be the last two pushes. I’m actually really happy that at the end of the year I am still able to have that determination I had in the beginning of the year and the desire to go out there and win and show my best tennis, to progress throughout difficult times physically and mentally.”
Her 26-match winning streak at the year’s start was the best beginning to a season by any woman in 15 years. She finished 2011 in third place in the rankings but her breakthrough Australian Open win in January took her to the top spot, where she has spent much of the season.
Gasquet back to winning ways in Shanghai
France’s Richard Gasquet rediscovered the winning formula after last week’s shock defeat to a Chinese wildcard, cruising into the second round of the Shanghai Masters alongside Croatia’s Marin Cilic.
Gasquet crashed to a humiliating loss at the China Open when Zhang Ze closed a rankings gap of 151 places to beat him, just days after the Frenchman won the Thailand Open by beating compatriot Gilles Simon in the final. But the 26-year-old, seeded 11th in Shanghai, made sure there was no repeat on the second day of action in Shanghai, winning four out of five break points to dispatch American journeyman Brian Baker 6-2, 6-3. Tenth-seed Cilic, who stands 6 feet 6 inches (198 cm) tall, joined him in the second round with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Lukasz Kubot, hitting eight aces and breaking his Polish opponent four times.
Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov set up a clash with Novak Djokovic by beating Pablo Andujar of Spain 7-5, 6-3. But he faces a daunting task against the second seed, fresh from victory at the China Open and aiming to displace Roger Federer at the top of the rankings.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 9th, 2012.
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