The idea of remaining the top-ranked women’s tour player inspired Serena Williams to give her best in the semifinals of this week’s Sony Ericsson Open, wherein she eventually defeated her older sister Venus in three thrilling sets (6-4, 3-6, 6-3).
“I’m excited. I was thinking I’d love to remain number one. I think I was more happy about that than winning the match,” the 2009 Australian Open champion said after the match.
Serena needs to reach at the finals to retain the top ranking. Had she lost the match to Venus, Russian world number two Dinara Safina would have taken over the world’s top spot.
This served as the 20th career meeting between the sisters and the younger sibling’s victory evened things out at 10 wins each.
Serena is gunning for a record sixth Key Biscayne title but before she could hoist the trophy for the sixth time this weekend, she will have to overcome Belarusian teen Victoria Azarenka, who dispatched 2006 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinals (6-3, 2-6, 7-5).
Azarenka is currently having a breakthrough season, winning two titles so far this year and reaching the semifinals in last week’s Indian Wells tournament. She’s currently ranked number ten in the world and is expected to go as high as number eight in next week’s rankings regardless of her performance in the finals.
The last time Azarenka and Williams met was in this year’s Australian Open fourth round wherein the latter won because the Belarusian, despite leading with one set, had to pull out due to illness.
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Images by: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
