MUTUA MADRID OPEN Madrid, Spain May 5-13, 2012 $5,189,603/Premier Clay/Outoors
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Singles - Final (9) Serena Williams (USA) d. (1) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 61 63
By Roberto Hernández | Source photo: Mutua Madrid Open
The American beat Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 6-3 in the Mutua Madrid Open final, lifting her first singles title in the Spanish title.
Serena Williams is back. The American showed her incredible abilities on the court once again by beating the world no. 1, Victoria Azarenka, 6-1, 6-3 in just over one hour, enabling her to lift the first Mutua Madrid Open singles title of her career.
After brushing aside players like Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Sharapova in the earlier rounds, she then sent the revelation of the tournament, Lucie Hradecka, out of the competition in the semis before going on to crush Azarenka in the final. No one could to stop her.
Helped to victory thanks to her fantastic serving, Williams never gave the Belarusian a chance and only conceded one break point during the whole match. The younger of the Williams sisters recorded 14 aces, compared to her rival’s zero, and at no point did it look like she was going to lose. Serena was in unstoppable form from the outset, taking an early 4-0 lead in the opening set, which left Azarenka reeling.
The European put on a better display in the second set, and held onto her serve in a few games. However, Williams managed to break her service again to swing the tie back in her favour. Azarenka, who never looked on top of her game, tried to keep her head above water but her rival showed no mercy, serving excellently and sealing her victory with an ace.
This is Serena William’s first singles title at the Mutua Madrid Open. She won the doubles category in 2010 alongside her sister, Venus. For Azarenka, on the other hand, this was her second consecutive lose in the grand final, having already tasted defeat in last year’s closing encounter against Petra Kvitova. By Roberto Hernández | Source photo: Mutua Madrid Open