2013 Victoria Azarenka tennis season

2013 Victoria Azarenka tennis season

Victoria Azarenka at the 2013 French Open.
Name	Victoria Azarenka
Country	Belarus
Singles
Season record	44–8 (84.61%)
Calendar titles	3
Current ranking	No. 2
Year-end ranking	No. 2
Ranking change from previous year	1
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	W
French Open	SF
Wimbledon	2R
US Open	F
Injuries
Injuries	Ankle (March–April)[1] Knee (June)

The 2013 Victoria Azarenka tennis season officially began at the 2013 Brisbane International, the first of two simultaneous events which opened the official 2013 season, and concluded with her fifth consecutive qualification for the 2013 WTA Tour Championships.

Yearly summary

Australian Open series

Azarenka began her 2013 season as the top seed at the 2013 Brisbane International, her first participation at the event since winning in 2009. She defeated German Sabine Lisicki in the second round after receiving a bye in the first round.^[2] This was followed up with a crushing two set victory over Ksenia Pervak in the quarter-finals, to maintain her record of not dropping a set in the tournament thus far.^[3] Azarenka was later forced to withdraw from her scheduled semi-final against Serena Williams due to a toe injury.^[4]

Her next tournament was the defence of her Australian Open title. Azarenka won her first six matches dropping only one set en route (against Jamie Hampton in the third round), to reach the final for the second consecutive year, where she faced Li Na of China.^[5] Azarenka was able to successfully defend her title with a three set victory in the final; thus, she became the first woman since Serena Williams in 2009–10 to successfully defend her Australian Open title.^[6] With the victory, she also became only the fifth active player (after Serena and Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova) to hold two or more Grand Slam singles titles.^[7]

Middle East series

As the defending champion in Qatar, Azarenka once again reached the championship match, where she met Serena Williams, who replaced her as World No. 1 upon reaching the semi-finals (Williams did not play in Doha last year).^[8] After receiving a bye in the first round, she defeated Romina Oprandi, Christina McHale (without losing a game), Sara Errani and Agnieszka Radwańska to set up the final meeting against Williams. Azarenka scored just her second career victory over Williams, winning in the championship match in three sets and successfully defending her title.^[9]

Azarenka missed the Dubai Tennis Championships for the second year in a row, withdrawing from the tournament due to a foot injury she sustained in Doha.^[10]

American hard court season

Azarenka's first tournament of the American hard court season was the defense of her Indian Wells title. As the top seed in the absence of Serena Williams, Azarenka got a first round bye, following which she defeated Daniela Hantuchová, Kirsten Flipkens (in three sets) and Urszula Radwańska, before withdrawing from the tournament prior to her quarter-final match against eventual runner-up Caroline Wozniacki due to an ankle injury.^[1] Her failure to defend her points saw her world ranking drop to No. 3 at the end of this tournament.

The ankle injury she suffered at Indian Wells forced her out of the Miami tournament the following week.^[11]

Clay court season

Azarenka decided to skip the Stuttgart event, to allow for recovery from her ankle injury. Her next tournament was the Mutua Madrid Open, where she was a finalist last year. She defeated recent Portugal Open champion Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in two tiebreak sets, in her first match since Indian Wells, before being upset in the second round by World No. 24 Ekaterina Makarova in three sets;^[12] thus losing her first match this season after eighteen matches undefeated.

Her next tournament was Rome. After receiving a first round bye, she defeated Julia Görges, Ayumi Morita (who retired in the second set), Samantha Stosur^[13] and Sara Errani^[14] to reach the final, where she was defeated by Serena Williams in straight sets.^[15]

Azarenka's next tournament was the French Open. She defeated Elena Vesnina, Annika Beck, Alizé Cornet, 2010 champion Francesca Schiavone and former doubles partner Maria Kirilenko to reach her first French Open semi-final, however, she was defeated there by 2012 champion Maria Sharapova in three sets.

Grass court season

In the first round of the 2013 Wimbledon Championships she defeated Maria João Koehler in straight sets, but suffered a knee injury early in the second set. This injury ultimately forced her to withdraw from the Championships before her second round match against Flavia Pennetta.^[16] Her withdrawal was among one of seven big-name casualties on the tournament's third day, which has also led to questions being raised about the surface of the grass.^[17] Her withdrawal also ended a streak of four consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals.

US Open series

Victoria Azarenka at the 2013 Southern California Open, where she reached the final.

Following her injury-enforced early exit from Wimbledon, Azarenka returned to action at the 2013 Southern California Open, where she was the top seed. After receiving a first round bye, she defeated Francesca Schiavone, Urszula Radwańska and Ana Ivanovic (the latter in three sets) before losing to Samantha Stosur in straight sets in the championship match. The loss to Stosur marked her first loss against her, after previously winning their first eight encounters.^[18]

Azarenka was later forced to withdraw from the Rogers Cup due to a back injury she suffered in the championship match in Carlsbad.^[19]

Seeded second at Cincinnati, Azarenka received a first round bye, following which she won her first match at the tournament since 2009, when she defeated local hope Vania King in the second round. That was then followed by wins over Magdaléna Rybáriková, Caroline Wozniacki (her first victory against her since 2009) and Jelena Janković, en route to reaching her fifth final of the year, where she defeated Serena Williams in a thrilling championship match to pick up her third title for the year.^[20]

At the US Open, where Azarenka was seeded second, she successfully reached the final for the second consecutive year, only dropping two sets en route. However, she lost in the final to Serena Williams in three sets.^[21] She was the only player to win a set against Williams over the last two years.

Asian hard court season

Following the US Open, Azarenka began her Asian swing at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, where she was the top seed. However, after receiving a first round bye, she lost in the second round to former number one and seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams in straight sets.^[22]

Azarenka's next tournament was the China Open, where she was the defending champion. She lost in the first round to Andrea Petkovic in three sets, delivering 15 double faults and committing 44 unforced errors in the process.^[23]

WTA Tour Championships

Following Azarenka's run to the US Open final, she qualified for the WTA Tour Championships for the fifth consecutive year. She was placed in the White Group along with Li Na, Sara Errani and Jelena Janković. She started off with a tight straight-sets victory over Errani, but then fell to Janković and Li in her remaining matches, thus failing to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2010 and spelling an end to her season.^[24]

The defeat to Li marked Azarenka's fifth loss in her past six matches, thus making for a poor end to her 2013 season. She ended the year ranked world number two, behind Serena Williams.

All matches

Singles matches

Tournament	Match	Round	Opponent/Ranking	Result	Score
Brisbane International Brisbane, Australia WTA Premier Hard, outdoor 31 December 2012 – 6 January 2013		1R	Bye
	1	2R	Sabine Lisicki / #37	Win	6–3, 6–3
	2	QF	Ksenia Pervak / #103	Win	6–1, 6–0
		SF	Serena Williams / #3	Withdrew[4]	N/A
Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam Hard, outdoor 14–27 January 2013
	3	1R	Monica Niculescu / #58	Win	6–1, 6–4
	4	2R	Eleni Daniilidou / #94	Win	6–1, 6–0
	5	3R	Jamie Hampton / #63	Win	6–4, 4–6, 6–2
	6	4R	Elena Vesnina / #47	Win	6–1, 6–1
	7	QF	Svetlana Kuznetsova / #75	Win	7–5, 6–1
	8	SF	Sloane Stephens / #25	Win	6–1, 6–4
	9	W	Li Na / #6	Win (1)	4–6, 6–4, 6–3
Qatar Ladies Open Doha, Qatar WTA Premier 5 Hard, outdoor 11–17 February 2013		1R	Bye
	10	2R	Romina Oprandi / #62	Win	6–2, 6–3
	11	3R	Christina McHale / #44	Win	6–0, 6–0
	12	QF	Sara Errani / #7	Win	6–2, 6–2
	13	SF	Agnieszka Radwańska / #4	Win	6–3, 6–3
	14	W	Serena Williams / #2	Win (2)	7–6^(8–6), 2–6, 6–3
Dubai Tennis Championships Dubai, United Arab Emirates WTA Premier Hard, outdoor 18–24 February 2012	Withdrew[10]
Indian Wells Indian Wells, United States of America WTA Premier Mandatory Hard, outdoor 4–17 March 2012		1R	Bye
	15	2R	Daniela Hantuchová / #73	Win	6–4, 6–1
	16	3R	Kirsten Flipkens / #31	Win	3–6, 6–3, 6–0
	17	4R	Urszula Radwańska / #37	Win	6–3, 6–1
		QF	Caroline Wozniacki / #10	Withdrew[1]	N/A
Sony Open Miami, United States of America WTA Premier Mandatory Hard, outdoor 18–31 March 2012	Withdrew[11]
Mutua Madrid Open Madrid, Spain WTA Premier Mandatory Clay, outdoor 4–12 May 2013	18	1R	Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova / #19	Win	7–6^(10–8), 7–6^(7–3)
	19	2R	Ekaterina Makarova / #24	Loss	6–1, 2–6, 3–6
Internazionali BNL d'Italia Rome, Italy WTA Premier 5 Clay, outdoor 13–19 May 2013		1R	Bye
	20	2R	Julia Görges / #25	Win	6–2, 6–0
	21	3R	Ayumi Morita / #43	Win	6–1, 2–0 ret.
	22	QF	Samantha Stosur / #10	Win	6–4, 1–6, 6–4
	23	SF	Sara Errani / #8	Win	6–0, 7–5
	24	F	Serena Williams / #1	Loss (1)	1–6, 3–6
French Open Paris, France Grand Slam Clay, outdoor 26–9 June 2013	25	1R	Elena Vesnina / #36	Win	6–1, 6–4
	26	2R	Annika Beck / #62	Win	6–4, 6–3
	27	3R	Alizé Cornet / #27	Win	4–6, 6–3, 6–1
	28	4R	Francesca Schiavone / #50	Win	6–3, 6–0
	29	QF	Maria Kirilenko / #12	Win	7–6^(7–3), 6–2
	30	SF	Maria Sharapova / #2	Loss	1–6, 6–2, 4–6
The Championships, Wimbledon London, Great Britain Grand Slam Grass, outdoor 24 June–7 July 2013	31	1R	Maria João Koehler / #107	Win	6–1, 6–2
		2R	Flavia Pennetta / #158	Withdrew	N/A
Southern California Open Carlsbad, United States of America WTA Premier Hard, outdoor 28–3 August 2013		1R	Bye
	32	2R	Francesca Schiavone / #55	Win	6–2, 6–3
	33	QF	Urszula Radwańska / #39	Win	6–1, 6–2
	34	SF	Ana Ivanovic / #17	Win	6–0, 4–6, 6–3
	35	F	Samantha Stosur / #13	Loss (2)	3–6, 2–6
Rogers Cup Toronto, Canada WTA Premier 5 Hard, outdoor 5–11 August 2013	Withdrew
Western & Southern Open Cincinnati, United States of America WTA Premier 5 Hard, outdoor 12–18 August 2013		1R	Bye
	36	2R	Vania King / #117	Win	6–1, 7–6^(8–6)
	37	3R	Magdaléna Rybáriková / #33	Win	6–3, 6–4
	38	QF	Caroline Wozniacki / #10	Win	6–3, 7–6^(7–5)
	39	SF	Jelena Janković / #15	Win	4–6, 6–2, 6–3
	40	W	Serena Williams / #1	Win (3)	2–6, 6–2, 7–6^(8–6)
US Open New York, United States of America Grand Slam Grass, outdoor 26 August–9 September 2013	41	1R	Dinah Pfizenmaier / #99	Win	6–0, 6–0
	42	2R	Aleksandra Wozniak / #323	Win	6–3, 6–1
	43	3R	Alizé Cornet / #28	Win	6–7^(2–7), 6–3, 6–2
	44	4R	Ana Ivanovic / #15	Win	4–6, 6–3, 6–4
	45	QF	Daniela Hantuchová / #48	Win	6–2, 6–3
	46	SF	Flavia Pennetta / #83	Win	6–4, 6–2
	47	F	Serena Williams / #1	Loss (3)	5–7, 7–6^(8–6), 1–6
Toray Pan Pacific Open Tokyo, Japan WTA Premier 5 Hard, outdoor 23–28 September 2013		1R	Bye
	48	2R	Venus Williams / #63	Loss	2–6, 4–6
China Open Beijing, China WTA Premier Mandatory Hard, outdoor 28 September–6 October 2013	49	1R	Andrea Petkovic / #50	Loss	4–6, 6–2, 4–6
WTA Tour Championships Istanbul, Turkey WTA Tour Championships Hard, indoor 22–27 October 2013	50	RR	Sara Errani / #6	Win	7–6^(7–4), 6–2
	51	RR	Jelena Janković / #8	Loss	4–6, 3–6
	52	RR	Li Na / #5	Loss	2–6, 1–6

Tournament schedule

Singles schedule

Victoria Azarenka's 2013 singles tournament schedule is as follows:

Date	Championship	Location	Category	Surface	Prev. result	Prev. points	New points	Outcome
30 December 2012– 6 January 2013	Brisbane International	Brisbane (AUS)	WTA Premier	Hard	DNP	0	200	Withdrew before semi-final match (against Serena Williams)[4]
14 January 2013– 27 January 2013	Australian Open	Melbourne (AUS)	Grand Slam	Hard	W	2000	2000	Won in the final against Li Na
11 February 2013– 17 February 2013	Qatar Total Open	Doha (QAT)	WTA Premier 5	Hard	W	900	900	Won in the final against Serena Williams
18 February 2013– 23 February 2013	Dubai Tennis Championships	Dubai (UAE)	WTA Premier	Hard	DNP	0	0	Withdrew before her first match due to a foot injury[10]
4 March 2013– 17 March 2013	Indian Wells	Indian Wells (USA)	WTA Premier Mandatory	Hard	W	1000	250	Withdrew before quarter-final match (against Caroline Wozniacki)[1]
18 March 2013– 31 March 2013	Sony Ericsson Open	Miami (USA)	WTA Premier Mandatory	Hard	QF	250	0	Withdrew before her first match due to an ankle injury[11]
6 May 2013– 12 May 2013	Mutua Madrid Masters	Madrid (ESP)	WTA Premier Mandatory	Clay	F	700	60	Lost in the second round against Ekaterina Makarova
13 May 2013– 19 May 2013	Internazionali BNL d'Italia	Rome (ITA)	WTA Premier 5	Clay	3R	160	700	Lost in the final against Serena Williams
26 May 2013– 9 June 2013	French Open	Paris (FRA)	Grand Slam	Clay	4R	280	900	Lost in the semi-finals against Maria Sharapova
23 June 2013– 7 July 2013	Wimbledon	London (GBR)	Grand Slam	Grass	SF	900	100	Withdrew before second round match (against Flavia Pennetta)
28 July 2013– 4 August 2013	Southern California Open	Carlsbad (USA)	WTA Premier	Hard	DNP	0	250	Lost in the final against Samantha Stosur
5 August 2013– 11 August 2013	Rogers Cup	Toronto (CAN)	WTA Premier 5	Hard	2R	60	0	Withdrew before the tournament began due to a back injury
12 August 2013– 18 August 2013	Western and Southern Open	Cincinnati (USA)	WTA Premier 5	Hard	DNP	0	900	Won in the final against Serena Williams
26 August 2013– 9 September 2013	US Open	New York (USA)	Grand Slam	Hard	F	1400	1400	Lost in the final against Serena Williams
23 September 2013– 28 September 2013	Toray Pan Pacific Open	Tokyo (JPN)	WTA Premier 5	Hard	QF	250	60	Lost in the second round against Venus Williams
28 September 2013– 6 October 2013	China Open	Beijing (CHN)	WTA Premier Mandatory	Hard	W	1000	5	Lost in the first round against Andrea Petković
21 October 2013– 27 October 2013	WTA Tour Championships	Istanbul (TUR)	WTA Tour Championships	Hard (i)	SF	530	400	Eliminated in round robin stage

Yearly Records

Head-to-head match-ups

Bold indicates that the player was in the Top 10, italics denotes that the player was in the Top 20 (at the time of the match being played). This list is ordered by number of wins to number of losses in chronological order played.

Sara Errani 3–0 Alizé Cornet 2–0 Daniela Hantuchová 2–0 Ana Ivanovic 2–0 Urszula Radwańska 2–0 Francesca Schiavone 2–0 Elena Vesnina 2–0 Serena Williams 2–2 Jelena Janković 1–1 Li Na 1–1

Annika Beck 1–0 Eleni Daniilidou 1–0 Kirsten Flipkens 1–0 Julia Görges 1–0 Jamie Hampton 1–0 Vania King 1–0 Maria Kirilenko 1–0 Maria João Koehler 1–0 Svetlana Kuznetsova 1–0 Sabine Lisicki 1–0

Christina McHale 1–0 Ayumi Morita 1–0 Monica Niculescu 1–0 Romina Oprandi 1–0 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 1–0 Flavia Pennetta 1–0 Ksenia Pervak 1–0 Dinah Pfizenmaier 1–0 Agnieszka Radwańska 1–0

Magdaléna Rybáriková 1–0 Sloane Stephens 1–0 Caroline Wozniacki 1–0 Aleksandra Wozniak 1–0 Samantha Stosur 1–1 Ekaterina Makarova 0–1 Andrea Petkovic 0–1 Maria Sharapova 0–1 Venus Williams 0–1

Singles

Singles: 6 (3–3)

Category Grand Slam (1–1) WTA Tour Championships (0–0) WTA Premier Mandatory (0–0) WTA Premier 5 (2–1) WTA Premier (0–1)

Titles by surface Hard (3–2) Clay (0–1) Grass (0–0)

Titles by conditions Outdoors (3–3) Indoors (0–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1.	January 26, 2013	Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia	Hard	Li Na	4–6, 6–4, 6–3
Winner	2.	February 17, 2013	Qatar Ladies Open, Doha, Qatar	Hard	Serena Williams	7–6^(8–6), 2–6, 6–3
Runner-up	1.	May 19, 2013	Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Rome, Italy	Clay	Serena Williams	1–6, 3–6
Runner-up	2.	August 4, 2013	Southern Californian Open, Carlsbad, United States of America	Hard	Samantha Stosur	3–6, 2–6
Winner	3.	August 18, 2013	Western & Southern Open, Cincinnati, United States of America	Hard	Serena Williams	2–6, 6–2, 7–6^(8–6)
Runner-up	3.	September 8, 2013	US Open, New York, United States of America	Hard	Serena Williams	5–7, 7–6^(8–6), 1–6

Earnings

#	Event	Prize money	Year-to-date
1	Brisbane International	$46,487	$46,487
2	Australian Open	$2,236,936	$2,283,423
3	Qatar Total Open	$426,000	$2,709,423
4	Indian Wells	$104,000	$2,813,423
5	Mutua Madrid Open	$27,346	$2,840,769
6	Internazionali BNL d'Italia	$226,385	$3,067,154
7	French Open	$494,221	$3,561,375
8	Wimbledon	$59,461	$3,620,836
9	Southern California Open	$68,200	$3,689,036
10	Western & Southern Open	$426,000	$4,150,036
11	US Open	$1,550,000	$5,700,036
			$5,700,036

Figures in United States dollars (USD) unless noted.

Exhibition matches

Victoria Azarenka took part in the annual BNP Paribas Showdown, where she faced Serena Williams in a rematch of their 2012 US Open final.^[25] Azarenka lost the exhibition match in straight sets.^[26] At the end of the year Azarenka scored another victory on Williams, in an exhibition in Thailand. She won in straight sets.

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Lost	1.	March 4, 2013	BNP Paribas Showdown, Manhattan, New York	Hard	Serena Williams	4–6, 3–6
Won	2.	December 28, 2013	Intercontinental Hotel, Hua Hin	Hard	Serena Williams	7–5, 6–3

See also

• 2013 Li Na tennis season
• 2013 Serena Williams tennis season
• 2013 WTA Tour

References

1. Indian Wells: Azarenka, Stosur pull out due to injuries | Tennis – News | NDTVSports.com
2. Azarenka starts 2013 in style – ABC Grandstand Sport – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
3. Azarenka cruises into semis in Brisbane – ABC Grandstand Sport – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
4. Azarenka scratched from Brisbane International – ABC Grandstand Sport – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
5. Azarenka plays through injuries to reach final – ABC Grandstand Sport – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
6. Azarenka defends Australian Open title – ABC Grandstand Sport – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
7. Victoria Azarenka promises to learn from Australian Open victory | Sport | The Guardian
8. Battling Serena becomes oldest world number one – ABC Grandstand Sport – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
9. Azarenka topples Serena to win in Doha – ABC Grandstand Sport – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
10. WTA Fans: Azarenka withdraws from Dubai
11. Azarenka withdraws at Sony with ankle injury – Yahoo! Sports
12. Azarenka loses temper and match in Madrid Open, Nadal defends well to reach 3rd round
13. Stosur, Djokovic crash out of Rome Masters – ABC Grandstand Sport – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
14. Azarenka sets up Williams final in Rome – ABC Grandstand Sport – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
15. Nadal, Serena triumph in Rome – ABC Grandstand Sport – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
16. "Victoria Azarenka pulls out through injury". BBC Sport. 26 June 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
17. Azarenka goes on attack after seven forced out of Wimbledon with injury, CNN.com
18. Sam Stosur breaks through to win the WTA Southern Californian Open from Victoria Azarenka, ABC Grandstand Sport (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 5 August 2013
19. Victoria Azarenka Withdraws From Toronto Tennis With Back Injury, Bloomberg, 5 August 2013
20. Victoria Azarenka wins thrilling Cincinnati final against Serena Williams, ABC Grandstand Sport (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 19 August 2013
21. Serena Williams wins US Open final with three-set triumph over Victoria Azarenka, ABC Grandstand Sport (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 9 September 2013
22. Venus Williams, Samantha Stosur through to last 16 at Pan Pacific Open, ABC Grandstand Sport (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 25 September 2013
23. Victoria Azarenka knocked out of China Open in first round by Germany's Andrea Petkovic, ABC Grandstand Sport (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 1 October 2013
24. Li Na defeats Victoria Azarenka to qualify for WTA Championships semi-finals, ABC Grandstand Sport (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 26 October 2013
25. Azarenka Looking Forward to BNP Paribas Showdown – Tennis Now
26. Garden party: Serena tops Azarenka in showdown