Victoria Azarenka defeats Maria Sharapova in WTA Miami Sony Ericsson Open 2011 Final

April 02, 2011

MIAMI (AFP) – Victoria Azarenka outplayed Maria Sharapova to win the Sony Ericsson Open by 6-1, 6-4 here Saturday to win the prestigious Miami WTA title for the second time in 1 hour and 46 minutes. Azarenka also won at Key Biscayne in 2009, stopping Serena Williams in the final. The two titles are the biggest of the Belarussian's career.

The No. 8-seeded Azarenka was the steadier player and swept nine consecutive games to take charge. Sharapova, whose most recent title came at Strasbourg in May 2010, has lost her past four finals. She fell to 0-3 in finals at Key Biscayne, where she was also the runner-up in 2005 and 2006. Sharapova committed 43 unforced errors, held serve only once and came up short with a late comeback bid.

The women's final matched two of the most notorious grunters in tennis. Beforehand, Azarenka suggested fans wear earplugs, and the two players traded shrieks on every rally, drawing giggles from the crowd at one point.

The Belarusian, ranked eighth in the world, Victoria Azarenka, the 21-year-old eighth seed from Belarus, came through 6-1 6-4 and added the title to the 2009 crown she captured on the same courts at Key Biscayne.

However, Sharapova was flat at the start. She broke serve to reach 1-all, but it was an hour before she won another game to make it 4-1 in the second set. She held for the only time to trail 4-2, and overcame two match points to break for 5-4.

But Sharapova was too erratic to sustain her rally or the rallies. When she dumped a forehand into the net on the final point, Azarenka dropped her racket in disbelief and celebrated by spinning and dancing across the court.

Maria was down 1-6 0-4 but she started to find her game as she pulled the second set back on serve at 3-4, but in the next game she lost her serve as Azarenka then led 5-3. Maria again got the set back on serve but Azarenka broke Maria again to take her 2nd title in Miami.

Sixteenth-seeded Mari aSharapova failed to hold her first six service games and Azarenka held off a late fightback from the Russian to win in one hour and 46 minutes. Sharapova, meanwhile, remained in search of her first title since May 2010 as she settled for her third Miami runner-up finish.

In the new WTA rankings to be released on Monday, Maria will move back into the top 10 at No.9. In the race to the WTA Championships, Maria will move up from No.14 to firmly in the top 10. Azarenka is projected to be ranked No. 6 next week, matching a career-best.