FLAWLESS consistency and a rapidly growing confidence propelled Victoria Azarenka to yet another title at Indian Wells’ BNP Paribas Open and now the question is underlined; who on earth can stop this shrieking and strong world No 1?
Certainly not Maria Sharapova on the evidence of the 23rd win in Azarenka’s unbeaten march through 2012. Apart from a brief flurry late in the second set, when the 2006 champion appeared propelled by a determination not to be a complete pushover, this was almost as one-sided a confrontation as the Australian Open final contested by this pair six weeks ago.
Azarenka won 6-2 6-3, breaking Sharapova’s serve six times out of nine attempts with a pressurised performance that is becoming almost routine for the 24 year-old this year and is reminiscent in many ways of one of her illustrious predecessors at the top of the WTA rankings, Monica Seles.
Perhaps when Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova is sufficiently fit after a bout of injuries and illness, the powerful Czech might offer Azarenka a challenge. Or perhaps Serena Williams, who is set to return to action in next week’s Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, alongside her long absent sister Venus.
However, as it stands at the moment, Azarenka, with four titles to her name this year and 12 throughout her career, appears frankly invincible. Little wonder the 22 year-old danced a funky celebration as she soaked up the applause as Sharapova was emphatically rendered second best.
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“It’s so special,” enthused Azarenka as she added the trophy to those she had previously collected this year in Sydney and Doha as well as Melbourne’s Australian Open. “I’ve never had the dream of what is happening to me right now. I cannot believe the reality.”
Conditions were difficult as it was much colder than the balmy desert conditions usually expected at this prestigious tournament. In addition the wind, that for most of the second set threatened another storm similar to that which held up Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal the previous evening, made play increasingly more problematic as the 1hr 25min encounter progressed.
Yet Azarenka’s self-belief is such that she shrugged off any threats to her dominance, either from the elements or her opponent, and scored another creditable triumph that netted her $1m (£630,000) to add to the $2,921,950 (£1.84m) she had already amassed this year.
Her play is a testament to the hard work done by her French coach Sam Sumyk but ultimately the person to congratulate is the player herself because she has magnificently applied herself to the task of adding to outstanding talent and making herself an even better competitor.
Azarenka was junior world champion and the teenager most likely to succeed back in 2006 when Sharapova won the Indian Wells title. But a brittle mind and a lack of true diligence held her back until this time last year, when she decided the time had come for her to adopt a different attitude.
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After suffering such an ignominious defeat at Melbourne, Sharapova was understandably tense in the opening exchanges. Azarenka opted to take the court wearing tight black Capri pants under her customary white shorts but her movement was unimpaired and she immediately broke serve as Sharapova delivered a string of unforced errors.
In comparison Sharapova’s ability to move to the wider shots and hit from a position of balance seemed compromised and before too long she called coach Thomas Hogstedt onto court for nothing more than a good helping of reassurance at a changeover.
Azarenka dropped only four points on serve throughout the first set and hit just six unforced errors, compared to Sharapova’s 16. That count multiplied for the California-based Russian in the second set, even though she hit the ball with more conviction and posed the top seed a few more problems.
Twice in succession Sharapova broke Azarenka’s serve but perhaps an understandable lack of focus, prompted by a desire to rush things in fear on an oncoming rain storm, had something to do with the Belarussian lapse.
Of course it was only temporary, Azarenka rose to the challenge and if anything hit the ball even more earlier on the rise to once again pin her opponent back.
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In the end Sharapova seemed completely awkward as Azarenka effectively gave her the runaround on match point. It was time for the world No1 to start celebrating again.