STANFORD, CALIF. — Call it a belated birthday gift. A day after turning 21, Victoria Azarenka captured her first title of 2010, breaking Maria Sharapova six times in a 6-4, 6-1 victory at the Bank of the West Classic.
The No. 18-ranked Belarusian, who had reached three finals earlier this year but had yet to raise a trophy on Sunday, celebrated by hugging her coach Samuel Sumyk and trainer Laurent Laffite. And the celebration won’t end there.
“I want a cake. I want some ice cream,” she said with a grin. “Something besides salmon.”
To give you an idea of just how catch-as-catch-can the WTA Tour has become, Sharapova, who hasn’t exactly been ripping it up since her return from shoulder surgery in May 2009 (she has only one win over a top-10 opponent in the past 10 months), was bidding to become first player to win three titles this year, adding to her Memphis and Strasbourg crowns. But physically spent from consecutive three-set night matches against Elena Dementieva and Agnieszka Radwanska, she didn’t have much left in the tank.
“It probably would have been easier for me if I didn’t spend so much wasted time on the sets that I lost in the previous two days,” said Sharapova, who amassed 27 unforced errors. “That probably would have made my life easier today.”
In a matchup of two of the sport’s best returners, Azarenka was crushing clean winners from the start but still needed four set points to serve out the first set. Sharapova appeared to wave off coach Michael Joyce‘s offer for an on-court consultation after dropping the first set. It may have been an unwise decision given that she was immediately broken in the first game of the second set. Then, ahead 4-1, Azarenka broke her Russian foe at love and never looked back.
“I’m one year older now — one year wiser,” said Azarenka, whose four career titles have all come on hard courts. “I tried to be aggressive right away, not to let her command because when she’s on a roll and she’s being aggressive it’s really hard to keep up.”
“There are weeks that go your way; there are weeks that don’t. If you’re healthy, you have a better chance,” said Sumyk of the hamstring injuries that held his pupil back earlier this year during the clay-court campaign. “She has the determination back because there are no problems with her body. That gives her some extra confidence.”
“I’m just so happy to be back on the court playing, enjoying my time, running all over the court — it’s just what I love to do,” said Azarenka. “It’s really a joy to be on the court.”
For Azarenka, who’ll move into the top 15 with the win, it’s a promising start to the summer hard-court season, and further evidence that, when she’s on her game (and in control of her composure), she’s capable of beating anyone on any given day.
“Every time she goes on the court, Victoria believes she can win,” said Sumyk. “She believes she can beat anybody. Is that going to happen? Nobody knows, but I think she always walks on the court with that belief.”
NOTEBOOK
HAPPY 40TH!: The Bank of the West Classic celebrated its 40th anniversary on Saturday night at Stanford by honoring four decades of champions, including Billie Jean King, Andrea Jaeger, Lindsay Davenport and Marion Bartoli. Said BJK of the struggles of kick-starting the women’s pro tour, “All we wanted to do was get professional tennis going. We didn’t worry about winning majors. In fact, the tour was probably more important to us than the majors at that period of our lives. Because we knew we were taking tennis to the people. The kids would come out locally and watch and dream someday about playing in the same tournament.”
GOT EARPLUGS?: Prior to the Sharapova-Azarenka shriekfest, ESPN2s’s Mary Carillo joked, “You might think about adjusting your volume in the next few minutes.”
A LOT OF BALLS: In Sports Illustrated, interviewer extraordinaire Roy Firestone recalled his early days in the TV business, when he would set up two chairs in the parking lot at the U.S. Open and try to coax players heading out to their cars. “You’ve got a lot of balls doing this,” John McEnroe once told him. “Ask me anything you want.”
HURDLING THE WOODIES: The Bryan Bros. are the new all-time record holders for doubles wins, having downed Eric Butorac/Jean-Julien Rojer 6-7(6), 6-2, 10-7 at the Farmers Classic for their 62nd career doubles title.
