Victoria Azarenka confirmed her position as world No. 1 in impressive style at the BNP Paribas Open, collecting $1 million with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Maria Sharapova. It was her 23rd win of the year (without a loss) and yet another crushing victory over her nearest challenger.
On a cold day that grew colder as the wind picked up over the Santa Rosa Mountains, Azarenka handled the conditions and her opponent with the ease of a player at the top of her game. Bravely trying to stem the tide that was engulfing her, Sharapova, a former champion at Indian Wells, did manage to break back twice in the second set, which was an improvement on her showing against Azarenka in the Australian Open final in January.
But it was all to no avail. The Belarusian was too quick, too solid and rarely seemed to be in trouble.
Obviously thrilled and slightly awed by what she has been achieving this year, Azarenka told the crowd, “I never had this dream in my life. I am so happy to play tennis, so happy to do what I do.”
Then, still talking on court for TV, she explained the secret of her success. “I took some tough losses last year, but we analyzed each one of them and learned from them. I think I have improved because I try to be consistent and to be professional every day.”
The consistency of her shot-making was what Sharapova could not match. Maria had her Swedish coach, Thomas Hogstedt, out on court after just five games and tried to digest his instructions which included the need to move forward after the second ball and go behind her opponent. She tried and, just occasionally, succeeded. But it was never enough.
Sharapova has never been the fastest mover and the relentless accuracy of Azarenka’s ground strokes frequently found her a step slow towards the end of demanding rallies. Nor did she do enough with her serve to prevent Azarenka from returning hard and deep and those break backs, when she actually came up with a couple of big forehand winners, counted for nothing because, in the second set, she only held serve once in five tries.
Sharapova was very realistic about her performance. "I feel I made too many unforced errors at the wrong time," she said. "Ultimately, I think she forces you to do a little bit more than either you should or would want to. She is extremely solid and makes you work for every point. I don't want to get into 25 ball rallies. That's not my game."
Unhappily, too many people will remember the match for being the loudest they have had to endure but there is no point in dwelling on it. These are the top two players in the world and they are not going to change. They will just screech their way into retirement.
What could be improved up is Azarenka’s attire. I quite understand the need to find warm clothing in this kind of weather but to put on a pair of black, knee-length leggings under white shorts, with a blue top and lime green head band is enough to send fashion gurus screaming off into the desert.
Ted Tinling, the late, great tennis couturier who designed beautiful dresses for Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Virginia Wade and Martina Navratilova always said that a performer owed it to her public to present herself in a stylish manner. “To do otherwise is disrespectful to your fans,” Tinling used to say.
Azarenka may consider it low on her list of priorities but it is all part of being a professional. And, in every other aspect, she is certainly that.
