She was perfect for the first three months of the year, and she’s still a strong No. 1, but some cracks have begun to show in the new Vika façade during the clay stretch. In Stuttgart, she lost to Maria Sharapova for the first time in more than a year. In Madrid, she was blitzed by Serena Williams in the final. And in Rome, she went back to old habit of pulling out of an event, this time with an arm injury that didn’t prevent her from winning her first match. Azarenka is the top seed but she comes to Paris third on the favorites list, behind Serena and Maria. Which might suit her just fine.
Reason to Hope: Azarenka has been the best player week to week for some time now, and after her win at the Australian Open, she knows she has what it takes to win the big events as well. While Sharapova and Serena have been better on clay, Azarenka is still steadier from match to match. Slow and steady can win the race on clay.
Reason to Worry: It’s a paradox that slow red clay requires you to be able to hit hard and heavy shots, but it’s true. You must have the pace to get the ball through the court, and this isn’t Azarenka’s specialty. Other players—Williams, Sharapova, Petra Kvitova, Li Na—have more of that needed firepower.
The Last Word: Azarenka hasn’t crumbled under the pressure of being No. 1, but she hasn’t owned the ranking yet either; this event will give us more of an idea of how she’ll handle it.
More Previews:
—Victoria Azarenka
—Juan Martin del Potro
—Novak Djokovic
—Roger Federer
—Petra Kvitova
—Andy Murray
—Li Na
—Rafael Nadal
—Agnieszka Radwanska
—Maria Sharapova
—Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
—Serena Williams