Victoria Azarenka overcame her fair share of obstacles to come back against Serena Williams and win the Cincinnati trophy 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (6).
There was Serena Williams standing in her way, first of all; the athletic world number One who has won eight titles this year. Her aura alone wins her a couple of games, if not sets, per match.
History stood in her way, too. The world number two had won only 2 of 14 matches against Williams. That record only strengthens Serena’s swagger. History has a way of repeating itself and few players have channeled into this and worked it as well as Williams.
Then there was the score on the day. History can be thrown aside in sport; therein lies its spectacle. But when Williams took the first set 6-2, an exhibition looked more likely. To overcome Williams on home soil from a set down is a tall order, one Azarenka got close to at last year’s US Open, but she was left watching Williams smoking the cigar.
But on this day Azarenka did not believe she should be the one standing by watching. Down a set, she fought back and leveled it at a set all, her tenacity and grit eating into the Williams game, as it had done when she was down a set in last season’s US Open final and had gotten herself into a winning position, serving for the Championship.
In the third set of this encounter, it was Williams who broke in the third and served for the match. The roles were reversed once more as Williams failed to do so, and the match went to a tie-break. Once again Williams led but Azarenka did not back off, her margin for error high, her athleticism at its best, her will even better.
At 5-5, the greatest server in the game served a double fault to gift Azarenka a match point on her serve. That same woman has another title she lived up to though: the greatest fighter. She returned big, moved forward, and forced an error to save the match point, fearless as ever.
But Azarenka has, as she proved in Doha this year and in her two Major final wins, a fair amount of courage pumping in her heart, too. At 6-6, Azarenka moved Serena side to side, opened up the court, moved forward and hit a forehand volley that died the second it hit the court. Another championship point, on her serve, Azarenka struck a forehand deep and loaded with pace at Williams who could only react and the reaction was not in her favor, a forehand into the net. Just as she had done in Doha, Azarenka had beaten Serena Williams, overcoming an obstacle so many are unable to overcome but which she, on a few days in her career, has strikingly cleared.
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