Azarenka’s coach says ward “ran out of gas” at US Open final set

Sam Sumyk, the coach of world number two Victoria Azarenka, said that the Belarussian simply just ran out of gas in the third set of the US Open 2013 women’s final where she competed against top-ranked and defending champion Serena Williams.

Azarenka forced a third set decider after fighting back from a 1-4 deficit in the second set. The Belarussian went on to win the second set tie-breaker but lost the match 1-6 in the third set.

“She ran out of little bit of gas to keep pushing from behind. When you run out of energy it’s better to lead because that gives a little boost, but to push, push, push always to come back drains you. It was never a problem to play Serena. We are the first ones to recognize what a great player Serena is, but it’s not something were scared of. It’s a privilege when you play the great players. Vika wants to be challenged by the best and get better herself. I hope they play a lot more against each other,” Sumyk said in an interview with Tennis.com

Williams and Azarenka have competed against each other four times this year with the pair splitting those meetings 2-2. Overall, Williams has a 13-3 head to head series lead over Azarenka.