World Number One Victoria Azarenka fought off a tenacious opponent and a partisan crowd to successfully defend her Australian Open title with a battling 4-6 6-4 6-3 win over China’s Li Na.
The 23-year-old from Belarus came into the match after a controversial Semi-Final win over US teen Sloane Stephens where a 10-minute medical time out right after she failed to convert several match points drew criticism from all quarters with many accusing her of ‘cheating’ and ‘gamesmanship’.
Li Na, on the other hand, was enjoying a far warmer relationship with the Melbourne crowd and the reception both players received gave a firm indication as to who the crowd favourite was going to be. Azarenka edged the head-to-head against her 30-year-old opponent 5-4, having won the last four encounters between the pair.
Serving first Li Na, who demolished Sharapova in the Semi-Final, got off to a nervous start with a couple of forehand errors handing the defending champion an early break. The Belarusian could fare no better as she tamely netted a forehand on break point to get the Chinese on the board. Li Na managed to hold serve in game three and cranked up the pressure with her deadly forehand to secure a break to go 3-1 up. The momentum once again swung Azarenka’s way as a backhand error gave her the break in game five. Having done the hard work, the world number one duly succumbed in the next game as Li drove home the advantage with a comfortable hold to go 5-2 up. The see-sawing set saw another break of serve with Li failing to serve out the set giving Azarenka a glimmer of hope. Serving at 4-5 down, Li turned on the pressure on the Azarenka serve winning several set points and was duly rewarded with the opening set as her opponent double faulted, much to the delight of the packed crowd at the Rod Lave Arena.
The crowd loved what they saw, but any hopes of a straight sets win for their favourite were quickly squashed as Azarenka raced to a 3-0 lead courtesy of two breaks of serve. Li got one of the breaks back in game four and then came the heart-stopping moment for the crowd – an awkward fall by the Chinese when attempting to change direction quickly. A lengthy medical time-out gave the Belarusian time to practice her service, a seemingly wise decision since she had won only 38% of points on her first serve and just 33% on her second up to that point. Li returned to the court to hold serve in her next two games and pounced on game eight as a poor drop shot by Azarenka presented her with two break points. Li leveled the set at 4-4 amidst loud roars from the crowd as the Belarusian looked almost close to tears at her predicament. The Chinese star’s steady mixture of brilliant and erratic groundstrokes ensured that her opponent would get more chances to level the match and as expected Azarenka got the break and served out the set to take the match into a decider.
The third set started with the now familiar sight of both players losing their serve. With Li 2-1 up, the Australia Day fireworks took over proceedings giving the two players time to take a break to relook at their strategy for the business end of the match. The restart was disrupted by another Li Na fall, this time the Chinese rolling her ankle and smacking her head when falling, drawing a collective grimace from the crowd when replayed on the large screen. On resumption, the Belarusian broke free to register a 4-2 lead with the checkered flag now firmly in her sights. Battered, bruised and down 3-5, the crowd favourite had to hold serve to stay in the match but could not come up with the goods this time around as a long forehand handed victory to Azarenka 4-6 6-4 6-3 in 160 minutes. The victory assured Azarenka the number one ranking, which she would have lost to Serena had she failed to defend her title.
The tears started to flow for the Belarusian after an emotionally draining few days. Accepting her consolation prize, Li Na stated, “First of all I would offer my congratulations to Victoria” and added that she looked forward to seeing the crowd in 2014.
The Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup was handed over to the champion who showed the world why she is the world number one. “All the fans, thank you so much for all your support,” stated the champion before wishing the crowd a ‘Happy Australia Day’ and holding aloft her prized trophy.
Azarenka’s 1st service percentage was at an impressive 78% throughout the three sets while Li Na recorded a reasonable 65%. Both players struggled to make headway with their first serve points won though, winning just 54% and 48% of their first serve points. By converting 9 of 12 break points (75%) Azarenka further underscored her tenacity on the big points. Li Na could only muster 7 break point conversions despite getting 18 opportunities (39%). Li Na managed twice as many winners as Azarenka’s 18 but her hit and miss style also resulted in 57 unforced errors when compared to just 28 by defending champion.
