STANFORD, California—Hey all! Well, It may not have been much of a final, but man was Victoria Azarenka’s final performance fantastic today! No offense to Maria, who played valiantly throughout the week (much more on that later), but the 21-year-old turned in the type of dominating performance that had jaws dropping all over Stadium Court. Not even the incredible support for Maria by the sun baked crowd could keep Sharapova from feeling hopelessly down and out against the impenetrable Belarusian by the end of this tilt.
Azarenka had an answer for everything Maria threw at her on Sunday. Every time Masha reached back to rip a return, or ran along the baseline to her right to unleash that vintage crosscourt forehand of hers, Azarenka was there, anticipating, bouncing on the balls of her feet, and hitting back.
Wow.
I watched each of the last four matches that Vika played here at Stanford, and it was pretty undeniable by the end of her run that she was not only a well deserving champion but also a player who once again deserves to be considered as a threat for a breakthrough slam. Before you roll your eyes at that, consider the fact that Vika just trampled through defending champion Marion Bartoli, newly anointed top-5 player Sam Stosur, and a very dangerous Maria Sharapova, whose post shoulder surgery form is most definitely peaking.
The effort definitely served to remind those who’ve touted Vika as the next big thing that they aren’t out of their minds. Yes indeed, the woman can play. And as it turns out, she can play under pressure as well.
Azarenka was tested in this tournament early and often, but each time one of her opponents frantically tried to mount a surge against her, Vika was up to the task of rejecting it. This week she was so much more than a brilliant baseline player with the potential to win big. She was calm under pressure, reliable and consistent, and for the first time since the 2009 Miami event, a cold and calculated closer.
Did I already say wow?
In Sharapova’s defense, she did play the night match Saturday night, and she was forced to make a very quick turnaround Sunday for the twelve noon start. She also played a grueling night match Friday (another three setter against Elena Dementieva that might have been the best of the week) as well. Such is life when you’re a tournament’s top draw. But Maria wasn’t playing the excuse card in her presser. “There’s no doubt she’s a great player,” she said. “You do what you have to do with what you have, no matter what it is. It’s part of the job. If I didn’t spend so much time on the sets I lost the previous two days, it would have made my life easier, but that’s the way it goes.”
Very classy stuff from Sharapova, who was quick to point out that the loss wouldn’t do a thing to her confidence going forward to the U.S. Open. As Sam Stosur so eloquently stated Saturday, you lose pretty much every week on this Tour, so it’s nothing to get too bent out of shape about.
Back to that ballkid trouncing dynamo that we all like to call Vika: In the end this match was more than Vika’s birthday party – perhaps it was the end of Vika as a girl and the beginning of Vika as a woman. That transition is something we’ve all been wanting and wishing for ever since we became enraptured by her passionate, athletic brand of tearing up the tennis court. Who knows, maybe we witnessed it Sunday?
Strip out the grunting hoopla and contemplate the sheer poetry of Vika’s game instead. It is, in her own words, aggressive, but it is so much more than that. Vika is a dancer, and her feet are perpetually carving patterns into the court. She’s a bobber and a weaver, who can throw jab after jab or knock you out with one punch. She’s tireless, ruthless, and for the first time in her career, she seems fearless as well.
And that fearlessness is not naiveté. “I tried to start aggressive right away and not let her come in,” she said. “I had to be on top of her at every moment and not let her come back.”
*****
The Chinese Acrobats (Zheng and Chan) fought valiantly in their doubles final against The Tall Cool Ones (Davenport and Huber), but the close match went to the Americans 7-5, 6-7(8), 10-8. It was only the second time that Davenport and Huber have played together since they joined forces in the 2008 Olympic Games, but they showed no signs of being estranged, as they moved as one, and seemed to keep Zheng and Chan confused about where to hit the ball for much of the match. Their big booming serves added another dimension that Zheng and Chan hadn’t seen all week.
Still, Zheng and Chan rallied from down a break in the second set, then drew level in the tiebreak. The Tall Cool Ones raced out to a 4-0 lead in the match tiebreak, but then fell behind to the determined No. 2 seeds 8-6, before rallying to pull it out.
Davenport claimed her sixth Bank of the West doubles title, to go with three singles titles.
*****
Nine straight days of divine weather and tennis have come to a close. The Tour will now make camp in San Diego, where the Mercury Insurance Open will take place at La Costa Resort and Spa.
Thanks to all who were willing to come along for the ride this week – I truly enjoyed it and I hope you did too!
Chris Oddo is a freelance tennis writer and blogger who is based in San Francisco, California. He is a regular commenter at OTB under the moniker The Fan Child. You can follow his blog at http://thefanchild.blogspot.com.
I watched Vika’s feet move all week and I posted elsewhere that that was a part of her game that had improved greatly. She was 1, 2 split step, hit. It was like an automaton. Sharapova on the other hand was not doing the 1/2 split step hit. She was just running and hitting without purpose. That is why she had to play those 3 set matches.
A commentator mentioned early on in the tournament that Sharapova spends at least 40 minutes of every practice session doing foot drills rather than serving. Now we know why. Her movement is really poor and a few players showed that up today. She keeps going for that lefty shot and it means that she is so out of position when she has to do that.
She also looked tired and wasted after only 4 games in the first set. She needs to work on her fitness and conditioning. That is why she was going for big shots and missing. It is tennis 101 – if you are not in the right position, no matter how good you are, you will miss. You will notice many players when they are having problems moving their feet will jump up and down on the baseline. That is to get rhythm. Sharapova hardly ever does that because she is relying on getting the point over quickly by hitting a deep hard return and perhaps winning a point from thereon in.
That tactic worked against players like ARad who do not have the power to counter that but against someone like Vika, the ball will come back with the same amount of pace if not more.
All in all a pretty good match. As I am one of those who have been on the Vika bandwagon for awhile, this was a well earned victory.
I saw Azarenka play on Saturday, and, yeah, if you can look past her weird old-lady whimper-shrieking, she was pretty masterful out there. Congrats to her on sealing the deal. Thanks for a great week of coverage! I really enjoyed it.
Oooh, I liked that “cold and calculated closer” comment. That is the Vika that I first noted and fell in love with a few years back, and why I still follow her game today. When she is “on”, there is no one I’d rather watch play!