Azarenka to finish season on top

Updated October 27, 2012 18:20:52

Victoria Azarenka of Belarus will finish the year as women's tennis world number one after a 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 win over China's Li Na in her final round robin match at the WTA Championships on Saturday (AEDT).

The Australian Open champion managed the two wins she needed in the round robin competition to end 2012 in top spot by beating Germany's Angelique Kerber on Thursday and then Li.

Azarenka now faces world number two Maria Sharapova in the semi-finals.

The Russian beat Australia's Sam Stosur 6-0, 6-3 on Saturday, having already sealed first place in Group B before playing Stosur who could not reach the last four.

Poland's fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska will play Serena Williams in the semis after overcoming seventh-seeded Italian Sara Errani 6-7 (6-8), 7-5, 6-4 in the longest match ever played at a WTA Championships which lasted three hours, 29 minutes.

Azarenka becomes the 11th year-end number since the WTA began its rankings in 1975 and the fifth this century.

"It's kind of difficult to believe that a little girl from Belarus is on that list," the 23-year-old said. "But it's really an incredible achievement.

"When I started to play tennis I had this big picture in my head that I want to be there. Back then it was so far away. It was like pretty much touching the sky," added Azarenka.

The Belarussian broke Li when the eighth-ranked Chinese player served for the first set at 5-4 and was forceful in the tiebreak, winning it 7-4.

Azarenka dominated the action off the ground for much of the second set and sealed the match after forcing Li into a forehand error in a hard hitting rally.

Radwanska next faces 15-times grand slam champion Williams, who has yet to drop a set at the tournament.

Radwanska, who had lost to Sharapova in a three-hour and 12 minute marathon on Thursday, had to pull out all the stops to get past the determined Errani.

The Italian won the first set 8-6 in the tiebreak after coming out ahead in a 34-ball rally and pumped her fist in delight while Radwanska angrily threw her racket to the ground.

Errani fought off four break points to hold for a 5-4 lead in the second but Radwanska responded brilliantly, winning 12 of the next 13 points to take the set 7-5.

"When I'd played for so long already I was thinking, just pretty much fight until the end," Radwanska said.

Errani troubled the Pole with a mix of heavy topspin and relentless retrieving but was unable to stay as mentally focused as the 2012 Wimbledon finalist.

"She's a big fighter so she didn't give up," Radwanska said. "So I really had to play my best tennis until the end of the match."

Reuters

Tags: tennis, sport, turkey

First posted October 27, 2012 11:31:27

View the original article here

Davis Cup set for dramatic finish

Updated September 19, 2011 07:14:54

Australia's Davis Cup play-off tie with Switzerland will go into a dramatic fourth day with Lleyton Hewitt a game away from a five-set defeat to Stanislas Wawrinka.

After world number three Roger Federer levelled the tie at 2-2 with a four-set win over Bernard Tomic earlier in the day, Hewitt and Wawrinka went toe to toe in a winner takes all battle that ended prematurely due to fading light.

Warinka leds the thrilling rubber 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, 5-3 after nearly four hours, securing a precious break early in the deciding set and holding his serve in the final game of the day as tensions rose at Royal Sydney.

Australian captain Pat Rafter was clearly frustrated when play was extended to 5.50pm AEST, accusing match referee Javier Moreno of "making shit up" as he ordered the players to continue in the Sydney dusk.

The two teams will return at 11am Monday morning where Hewitt will serve to stay in the match that decides which of the countries is promoted to the Davis Cup's elite World Group.

Things looked optimistic for Australia when Hewitt clinched the opening set only for Wawrinka to hit back immediately in the second.

The fired-up Hewitt saved three sets points when down 3-6 in the third set tiebreaker and then another at 6-7 before closing it out for a two-sets-to-one advantage.

The veteran Australian was playing some amazing tennis, particularly at the net where the former world number one produced a handful of deft volleys which left Wawrinka floundering and the astonished crowd on their feet.

But to his credit, Wawrinka, who was defeated by Tomic in the opening rubber of the tie and looked well below his best in the doubles defeat alongside Federer on Saturday, picked up his game.

Wawrinka found his range on serve and sent the rubber to a fifth and deciding set after taking the fourth 6-4.

His serve continued to dominate Hewitt in the fading light and Rafter made his voice heard for the second time in the day after demanding a faulty let cord sensor to be removed during Tomic's match.

Hewitt faced a nervy seventh game on serve, which if he lost would have provided Wawrinka the opportunity to serve for the match in the last game of the day's play.

The plucky Australia held his ground but Wawrinka did likewise and will go into Monday as the favourite still a break up.

Tags: tennis, sport, sydney-2000, nsw, australia, switzerland

First posted September 18, 2011 18:03:41

View the original article here