Smooth sailing for Victoria Azarenka in Melbourne but showdown with Serena awaits

If it happens, this will be their fourth duel inside 12 months, with all three of their 2015 matches being tense, three-set affairs. Williams edged all three matches, but Azarenka had her chances, writes Ahmed Rizvi.

Victoria Azarenka of Belarus celebrates after defeating Naomi Osaka of Japan in their third round match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 23 January 2016. EPA/DAVID CROShow more

The stars really seem to be aligning for Victoria Azarenka in 2016.

In the first week of the year, she was scheduled to play Simona Halep, the woman who knocked her out of the 2015 US Open, in the second round of Brisbane, but the world No 2 was forced to pull out with an Achilles’ strain and Azarenka played Belgian Ysaline Bonaventure, a world No 170, instead.

She cruised through that match and the tournament, losing only 17 games in five matches, all straight set wins, as she clinched her first title in 28 months.

In the final, she humbled world No 10 Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-1.

Azarenka, 26, looked in ominous form in Brisbane and, to the delight of her fans, she is looking even better in Melbourne, dropping only five games in three matches until now.

She has spent a mere 169 minutes on the court for those three wins, cruising through the six sets 6-1, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, 6-0, 6-0.

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Critics, of course, would point to the rankings of her opponents in the first three rounds – Alison van Uytvanck (No 43) in the first, followed by Danka Kovinic (No 54) and Osaka Naomi (No 127).

Last year, Azarenka, coming to Melbourne as the world No 44, had to battle Sloane Stephens (No 32 then) in the opening round, the then world No 8 Caroline Wozniacki in the second and No 23 Barbora Strycova in the third. She beat all three in straight sets, before going down to Dominika Cibulkova in three.

This year, Azarenka will meet Strycova again on Monday, in the fourth round, an opponent she has beaten in all four of their previous duels, all in straight sets.

A two-time Australian Open champ, the former world No 1 should have been getting ready to meet world No 3 Garbine Muguruza in the fourth round instead, but Strycova knocked her out in straight sets, leaving No 7 Kerber as the top seed in Azarenka’s half of the draw.

Halep, the No 2 seed, and No 8 Venus Williams could not even make it the second round. Now, Muguruza, the No 3 seed, and No 9 Karolina Pliskova are gone as well.

So it looks like smooth sailing for Azarenka in Melbourne. Strycova, followed by Kerber and her semi-final opponent, if there are no further upsets, could be Ekaterina Makarova, Madison Keys or Ana Ivanovic, the three remaining seeds in that quarter.

Then comes the big match. A possible final against Serena Williams. If it happens, this will be their fourth duel inside 12 months, with all three of their 2015 matches being tense, three-set affairs.

Williams edged all three matches to extend her head-to-head lead to 17-3, but Azarenka had her chances.

She had multiple match points in the round of 16 clash in Madrid and, a few weeks later, was a set and break up in the third round at the French Open, but lost 6-2 in the third.

She took the opening set in their quarter-final clash at Wimbledon as well, but then Williams just shifted gears and raced away.

Those defeats have only made Azarenka a lot more determined.

“I will do anything I can, anything, to be able to not just beat Serena, but to win Wimbledon,” Azarenka said after that Wimbledon defeat. “I will do anything to win grand slams. I’m going to work hard. This just gives me extra motivation.”

Looking at her performances this year so far, Azarenka seems to have done just that, putting the disappointments and heartbreaks of the past two years, both professional and personal, aside to show the kind of form that saw her win back-to-back Australian Open titles in 2012 and 2013 and occupy the world No 1 ranking for 51 weeks.

Azarenka was the WTA No 1 in February, 2013, when Williams replaced her and the American has spent 154 consecutive weeks at the top since.

The Belarusian will certainly be keen to get that spot back, which means a rivalry could finally take centrestage on the WTA Tour.

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