Azarenka loses to Williams in Brisbane International final

Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka (world No.2) did not manage to lift the title of the Brisbane International after a defeat at the hands of world No.1 Serena Williams in the 4 January final.

Serena Williams triumphed 6:4, 7:5, with the opponents showing a high-quality performance in both sets. The American was a bit luckier exactly when it was needed, which allowed her to win several key points. The battle was especially tough in the second set. Serena Williams comfortably took the two opening games and it seemed that the match would never go Victoria Azarenka’s way. The Belarusian managed to collect herself and took the lead 4:2. However, the 17-time Grand Slam champion proved her dominance and managed to turn the set around. It took the American 1 hour and 38 minutes to secure her back-to-back victory in the Brisbane International final and the 58th WTA title. A year ago Serena Williams defeated Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6:2, 6:1.

Victoria Azarenka won the Brisbane International in 2009 after beating France’s Marion Bartoli 6:3, 6:1. During the 2014 Brisbane International Victoria Azarenka got past Australia’s Casey Dellacqua (142) 6:3, 6:1 in round 2, Switzerland’s Stefanie Vogele (50) 6:4, 6:7 (7:8), 6:1 in the quarterfinal and Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic (8) 1:6, 6:3, 6:4 in the semifinal.

The leading tennis players will take part in the first Grand Slam tournament of the new season, the Australian Open, which will be held in Melbourne from 13 to 26 January. Victoria Azarenka won the Australian Open title on the last two occasions after overpowering Russia’s Maria Sharapova 6:3, 6:0 in the 2012 final and beating China’s Na Li 4:6, 6:4, 6:3 in the last year’s decider.