Sydney suits these two. Li Na won her first Premier title here last year, and Victoria Azarenka reached at least the quarterfinals in two earlier appearances. They weren’t even supposed to be in this final, not after being breadsticked in the first set of their semifinal matches, but here they were anyway—No. 3 seed Azarenka in her third straight final, No. 4 seed Li in her first final since last year’s historic French Open title.
Today, unlike the first of their seven matches, the 2008 Gold Coast final, but like the last time they played, in Istanbul last year, Azarenka won. It took nearly two hours, but she took it 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 to win her ninth career singles title.
We got three terrific sets of tennis and the feeling that each, and the match as a whole, was won by the winner, not lost by the other.
In the first set Azarenka hit with more pace and depth but made fewer errors—they struck the same number of winners (five), but Li made nearly twice as many errors. And Li, despite an amazing 86 percent first-serve percentage, held just once.
In the second set Li reined in the errors while playing more aggressively—she hit three times as many winners as Azarenka. She timed the ball better, used more angles, hugged the baseline. And she made us laugh at the first-serve percentage stat again—hers dropped to 64 percent, yet this time she never faced a break point.
It was in the third set when they played their best tennis at the same time, and when fans gave the most oohs and aahs. In the crucial eighth game Azarenka, helped by some Li errors, broke to go up 5-3. She served it out in the next game, eventually. Azarenka earned her first match point when Li hit a forehand wide right after a fan yelled out, but Li saved it with a forehand winner where the earlier ball should have gone. Azarenka then fought off two break points and won the match on her second match point, when Li hit a return long.
It’s hard to say how Li got her groove back, but you can tell that she has. She struggled after the French Open; by October she was “feeling even win one point is tough for me.” But it’s a new year and a good one so far. In her post-semifinal press conference she was asked if she’s “back.” “Yeah, I’m back,” she said, laughing or possibly giggling. “I was feeling more stronger. And not only for the body, also in mind.”
Mental stamina certainly helped her in the semis yesterday, when she ended Petra Kvitova’s 14-match winning streak and deprived her of the chance to play for the No. 1 ranking. Li’s form and confidence have returned at the right time, and is it any surprise? She went away after reaching the final of last year’s Australian Open and came back just in time for you know what.
Azarenka, seven years younger than Li, has four more singles titles and about $2 million more in prize money. Last year she went from being a vogue pick to reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon, made the final of the year-end championships, and earned her (current) career-high ranking of No. 3. If things go her way at the Australian Open she, like four others, could take the No. 1 ranking from Caroline Wozniacki.
If her results continue to get attention, so does her improved attitude. These days she—usually—seems calmer and happier on court. In her pre-match interview, Azarenka said, “I am me, just maybe a little improved version of me.” She smiled. As with Jelena Jankovic I wonder about the smile. In Jankovic’s case I wonder what went away first, the smile or the results. In Azarenka’s I wonder what came first. Who can say really, but we can see, as can potential opponents in the Australian Open draw, that her results speak for themselves.
—Bobby Chintapalli