It took her five attempts but Victoria Azarenka has finally won her first WTA singles title. The world number 16 defeated France’s Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-1 to take the Brisbane International final.
Right from the start Azarenka looked determined to win. She was controlling the match and got out to an early lead. The scoreline indicated that Azarenka dominated the match however it was closer than it looked. Bartoli often looked to have the better ground strokes but this was not enough to win the match.
The number two seeded Azarenka had moved into the finals with several impressive matches. She had also not dropped a set to reach the final.
The Belarussian lost her previous finals, at Estoril and Tashkent in 2007 and Gold Coast and Prague in 2008.
Bartoli suggested after the match that she had her chances. “It was a tighter match than the score showed,” Bartoli said. “All the games were very tight, going to advantage, deuce, advantage, deuce… there were a lot of break points. It was a great match. She was coming up with some great shots. I wasn’t able to move her like I had to. I tried my best but she was just better.”
Azarenka did not get it all her own way throughout the week as she had to fight hard to get past Jarmila Gajdosova in the second round 7-6(4) , 7-5 and she was again pushed to the limits in the quarters by Lucie Safarova winning 7-6(5), 6-4.
Will Azarenka be able to step up at the Australian Open. I don’t think she is quite ready to match it with the top players. Maybe in a year or two she will be challenging for Grand Slam titles. She has at least made the next important step in claiming a singles title.