Belarussian world number one Victoria Azarenka won her first China Open title on Sunday after beating second-ranked Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-1 to solidify her hold atop the world rankings. The match took about an hour and 27 minutes.
Azarenka had won their past five hardcourt matches which made her a favorite to win the tournament. Their last encounter was at the semifinals of the 2012 US Open with Azarenka prevailing in three sets.
“I was doing the right things, making sure I didn’t let Maria play the game she likes, always being in control and dominating,” Azarenka said.
“Of course it wasn’t possible for me to do that every single point, but for the most part I was trying to keep up with her rhythm, and when I had the chance just try to step it up and be in control myself. I tried to take that opportunity and move forward,” she added.
Azarenka said that she’s happy to have pulled through.
“To win the China Open is a dream for me, because I’ve never been able to do so well here – so to overcome that and win such a big title at the end of the year is just incredible. I’m really happy I came and I conquered here.”
Meanwhile, Sharapova has great things to say about her opponent.
“Victoria played a really good match – she just did many things much better than I did,” Sharapova said. “I felt like when I had the chance, in situations where I had opportunities to get back in the set or in the match, I was just making errors. They were little windows, but as small as they were, I just didn’t take them. Against somebody who is No.1 in the world, you can’t do that,” she said.
“But I came here not having played at a high level in Tokyo, and with every match I was playing better here – it’s unfortunate to lose in the final, but after the results I’ve had here in the past, this was definitely a step in the right direction,” she added.
Sharapova’s next schedule is at the 2012 WTA Championships while Azarenka is scheduled to participate in Linz next week prior to the year-end championships.
