Azarenka staves off a spirited Li Na to defend title

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 26: Victoria Azarenka (L) of Belarus poses with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup and Na Li of China with the runners up trophy after their women’s final match

It was an ugly feast of errors between two beautifully disposed women. In a bizarre final built mostly upon attrition, which saw a combined 85 unforced errors from the two women, Victoria Azarenka joined an illustrious list of seven other women who have successfully defended their title at the Australian Open. The Belarussian hung in there long enough – two hours and 40 minutes to be exact – to come from behind and grind out a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over the valiant Chinese Li Na who had the entire stadium behind her. In the end, Azarenka’s persistence on a difficult night paid off as she took her second Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup and a generous $2.43 million payout for her laboured yet poignant victory in Melbourne.

Li had a rather cold start and the world No.1 took advantage of the second serve to gain the first opportunity of the match. With a slight breeze aiding the ball, Li sailed a forehand long to gift an early break to the defending champion. Azarenka, though, did not have a much better start herself; three unforced errors off her normally reliable backhand were enough to restore the break to the Chinese star. Li made the first real argument hers when she took the fourth game using her smoothly working forehand to force her opponent into defense before changing flanks with a powerful backhand cross court to force the error. A viciously struck forehand behind a stranded Victoria earned the break point and when the she failed to get the ball past the net on the next, Li had taken three games in a row.

However, the 30-year-old failed to consolidate when she overran the ball and missed an easy forehand put away at game point. Sensing the opportunity, Azarenka powered her shots to gain depth and two straight backhand errors resulted in a fourth break in five games of topsy-turvy tennis. The Chinese, though, exerted pressure immediately and a brilliant backhand return gave her three break points for a 4-2 lead. Azarenka saved the first, courtesy an error from her opponent, but Li made amends on the next point with a picture perfect backhand down the line to ensure Azarenka was still looking to hold serve 25 minutes into the match. The Belarussian, serving to stay in the set, finally managed to hold one in the eighth game to force her opponent to serve out the set.

The Chinese, though, was immediately under pressure at 0-30 in the ninth game. Li drove a cross court backhand long on the next point to offer three chances for Azarenka to break back. She did not have to work for it either, as Li sent her backhand into the net to return the set back on serve. A stinging forehand return earned the Chinese her first set point but Azarenka delivered under pressure with a sharply angled passing shot on the full stretch to stave off imminent danger. A brilliant rally ensued, the best of the set, and Li stepped in on a short ball to strike a ferocious forehand winner to earn her third set point, only to be denied immediately by the Belarusian. But at the fourth time of asking, the set came to a fitting end with another break, when the 23-year-old champion gifted a double fault.

With her stock on the rise, Li decided to go after Azarenka, but unfortunately for the Chinese, the risk did not pay off. Azarenka took advantage of some untimely errors to work her way back into the match by taking a 3-0 lead in the second set with a double break to boot. A couple of mistimed Azarenka drives gave Li her first opening in the second set and she took it eagerly with a crisply hit inside out forehand to earn back one of those breaks. The Chinese had a major fright in the fifth game when Azarenka struck a forehand behind her for 30-30, and she sprained her ankle in an effort to change direction. After a brief injury time out to get her ankle taped by the trainer, the Chinese struck a mean backhand winner to stay within touching distance of the Belarussian.

Li had three break points in the sixth game, but her backhand failed twice in a row to allow the defending champion to retain her advantage and hold for 4-2. It wasn’t to be for long though, as the error-stricken contest trundled along from one break to another. Azarenka allowed an easy put away in the eighth game to offer two break points to the fighting Li. The first was saved, but the Belarusian sailed her forehand long on the next to drag the set back to even terms at 4-4. One can only wonder how excruciating it might be to play to contest such as this, but Li tortured the crowd with her worst game of the match as she dealt in errors to leave the world No. 1 serving to force a decisive final set. For once, she did not fail as she took an easy hold to bring herself back into the match, the clenched fist betraying the huge sense of relief that must have washed over her tense visage.

The start of the third set, though, did not offer any sign of relief to the beleaguered fans – it started much like the ones before with an exchange of early breaks. Azarenka squandered the early break when she gifted a double fault to the Chinese to end the second game. By now, Ripley’s must have commissioned one of their Australian representatives to race to Melbourne Park to record the mangled mess of this match for their bizarre collection of convoluted feats. Thankfully for those present inside Rod Laver Arena, the Australia Day fireworks could not wait any longer and the players sat down to allow the spectators to enjoy the colourful explosion of fervour exploding in the night sky. It must have been a hugely relieving experience for the exasperated men.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 26: Na Li of China falls for the second time in her women’s final match against Victoria Azarenka of Belarus

When the players returned on court, with Azarenka serving in the fourth game, Li had a nasty fall after her left ankle turned in again to leave her falling on her back and thumping her head on the bone hard Plexi-cushion surface. But the spirited woman, showing no ill-effects of that fall, forged ahead to gain a break point with a backhand return winner. Azarenka, however, saw off the threat to stay even at 2-2. If Li’s ankle held up long enough, the contest seemed evenly poised on the final stretch. But she made her fifth double fault of the match to open a window for the Belarusian, who sneaked in gleefully when Li sent a backhand crashing into the net post. With Azarenka serving to inch closer to the finish at 4-3, Li used an intelligent change of pace to extract an error from her opponent to earn a break point. But a vain attempt to force a return winner failed to pay off and the opportunity evaporated as soon as it came. Azarenka held on to take on a commanding 5-3 lead in the final set.

Li was the persistent aggressor through the contest and her steadfast refusal to play the percentages brought about the end game. Serving to stay in the match, Li turned to unrestrained attack and a couple of forehand errors at 30-30 gave Azarenka her second straight title in Melbourne. The sustained attrition spilled over into a bout of joyous tears as the Belarusian celebrated the moment that brought about not just the title defense, but also enabled her to retain the top spot in the rankings. There were tears for Li too, but those stemmed from the knowledge that she had a bucketful of opportunities which went begging, thanks mainly to her high risk approach that sometimes, especially when it mattered, failed to pay off. In the end, Li took too many chances and the unbridled aggression cost her some unnecessary points, leaving her to ruminate over what might have been as she fell to a second defeat in as many finals at the Australian Open.