VICTORIA AZARENKA regained the Miami title which she first won in 2009 but the Belarussian is something of an anomaly as you read through the roll-of-honour of the Sony Ericsson Open. As things stand, Azarenka is the only winner of Key Biscayne who doesn't have a Grand Slam singles title to her name. Is she ready to make the step up to the highest echelons of the women's game or will she remain a lesser threat at the Grand Slams?
After a fairly cumbersome start to the tournament where she needed three seats to defeat her first three opponents, Azarenka came into her own in the quarter-finals as she ousted defending champion Kim Clijsters, before a 60 63 disposal of her occasional doubles partner Vera Zvonareva. Given the manner of these performances, Azarenka was the odds-on favourite against Maria Sharapova in the final and the 21-year-old defied the burden of this pressure as she prevailed with a 61 64 victory over the three-time Grand Slam champion.
Azarenka's game is deceptively high-percentage and the Belarussian was by far the most watertight from the baseline in the final and she used her excellent return game to great effect, pushing Sharapova behind the baseline with consistently deep returns and the 59% of points won behind her opponent's service proved crucial as she clinched her sixth WTA title.
Another of Azarenka's strengths displayed in the final is her two-handed backhand which is regarded as one of the best on the tour and unlike some of her contemporaries, Azarenka's able to handle herself with some merit in the forecourt. But are these strengths reliable enough to help her claim one of the biggest prizes in tennis?
First things first, Azarenka will need to establish herself as a regular fixture in the second week of Grand Slams before she can legitimately think about claiming one of the major trophies. Quarter-final appearances at three of the four Grand Slams makes solid reading but this still remains an undistinguished record for a player who's been a consistent top-ten operator over the past three years. A telling statistic is Azarenka's six WTA titles have come on hard-courts so it looks unlikely she'll have a realistic shot of a Grand Slam title until the US Open in September.
As good as her return is, Azarenka's serve is one of the most unimposing out of top-flight players and despite the comfortable scoreline in the Miami final, Azarenka was still broken four times. If Azarenka wants to make an impression, particularly in an event such as Wimbledon, she needs to make sure her first-serve percentage is operating at a respectable level. Even though the forehand is improving, this wing can still be a suspect shot when it's put under pressure on a faster surface such as the grass-courts of SW19.
Azarenka isn't the most gifted athletically and she retired on seven occasions last year. Her lack of prowess in this arena is most obvious on clay, where she's not the most fluent mover which means she's unlikely to be towards the forefront of potential Roland Garros winners either. While many pundits laud Azarenka as one of the best hard-court players on the circuit, Azarenka has already come a cropper to the debilitating daytime heat at Melbourne Park and Flushing Meadows and while she coped well with the humid Miami conditions, her susceptibility to these conditions must play on the mind somewhat.
The Minsk-born Scottsdale resident used to have something of a reputation for her on-court behaviour but Azarenka appears to have grown out of these tantrums although temperament can still be a factor. Azarenka's now gone 0-3 in major Grand Slam doubles finals, which doesn't augur too well although she'll take heart from defeating one of the most mentally tough players on the tour in Miami.
Hard-courts are clearly Azarenka's forte and wins over A-listers of the ilk of Zvonareva, Clijsters and Sharapova will bring Azarenka's name back into the fray after a sub-standard 2010 season and given the downward form of the old guard of women's tennis, Azarenka must be fancying her chances in upcoming seasons although as things stand, there are a good dozen players who'd be more readily favoured.
Grand Slam timeline;
January 2006 – a semi-final appearance on the WTA tour in Guangzhou in September 2005 confirmed Azarenka's berth into the qualifying draw at Melbourne Park where she progressed into the main draw, before a solid performance in the first round against seeded Sania Mirza.
May 2006 – Azarenka battled into her second successive main-draw at Roland Garros but she fell 9-7 in the third set to the No.27 seed Anabel Medina Garrigues.
June 2006 – Wimbledon marked Azarenka's first main-draw appearance via direct entry although she fell to Agnieszka Radwanska.
August 2006 – Azarenka stunned former French Open champion and No.11 seed Anastasia Myskina for her first main-draw win at the US Open. She fell to Anna Chakvetadze in the third round.
January 2007 – She thrashed soon-to-be Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli 60 75 in the second round before a close match against Jelena Jankovic in the third round at the Australian Open.
August 2007 – Azarenka scored her best Grand Slam performance as she defeated Martina Hingis en route to the fourth round of the US Open before losing to eventual finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova.
January 2008 – Serena Williams downed Azarenka in the third round, serving up 15 aces in a comprehensive 63 64 win.
January 2009 – A year later, Azarenka had Serena on the ropes but she was forced to retire with a heat-induced ailment. She won the first set 63 but trailed by a break in the second set.
May 2009 – Azarenka knocked out reigning champion Ana Ivanovic to make her first Grand Slam quarter-final, before coming out second-best to Dinara Safina.
June 2009 – She made back-to-back quarter-finals at Wimbledon but Serena was in top form in the last-eight.
January 2010 – Azarenka came from a set down to beat Vera Zvonareva in the fourth round and she led Serena 64 40 before the defending Australian Open champion fought back to win their quarter-final match in three sets.
May 2010 – Still lame due to a succession of injuries, Azarenka was downed by Gisela Dulko in the first round of Roland Garros.
June 2010 – Petra Kvitova won ten successive games to beat Azarenka 75 60 in the third round of Wimbledon.
August 2010 – Azarenka collapsed in searing conditions in the second round of the US Open against Dulko.
