World Tennis News - Azarenka beats Williams for Doha crown

Azarenka beats Williams for Doha crown

Victoria Azarenka denied Serena Williams a victorious return to the No.1 ranking with a 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-3 victory over the American to retain the Qatar Total Open.

Williams had sealed her return to the top spot with her quarter final defeat of Petra Kvitova and had won her last nine meetings with Azarenka but the Belarusian reversed the trend in an exciting final.

The top seeded defending champion led by a break in the opening set but saw Williams strike back in the eighth game. The American second seed had a set point in the tie-break but netted a forehand passing shot and Azarenka took the set went Williams sent a backhand wide.

The 31 year-old Wimbledon, US and Olympic champion hit back to dominate the second set and level the match. 

Azarenka halted Williams’ momentum to open a 3-0 lead in the decider which proved decisive and the Australian Open winner converted her third match point to clinch a hard fought victory. Read about Azarenka's Australian Open triumph here

Stat Attack – Azarenka

• Azarenka’s only previous victory over Williams came in the 2009 Miami final 
• The Belarusian won just two points more than Williams – 105 to 103 

Stat Attack – Williams

• The 31 year-old moves into her 124th week ranked as the World No.1 regaining the top spot for the first time since October 2010 and becomes the oldest ever woman to rank at No.1 

Nadal back in the winner’s circle in Sao Paulo

Rafael Nadal won the first title of his comeback from injury with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over David Nalbandian in the final of the 2013 Brasil Open in Sao Paulo.

The top seeded French Open champion had dropped two sets en route to the final but looked strong against Nalbandian in the final.

In their seventh meeting, and second in a final, Nadal reeled off four straight games to take the opening set and then hit back from a break down to take his 51st career singles title after 78 minutes. 

Stat Attack – Nadal

• With 51 career titles Nadal currently sits 10th in the Open Era one spot behind Ilie Nastase with 58 
• The Spaniard had not played the Brasil Open since winning the title as a teenager eight years ago 

Stat Attack – Nalbandian

• Nalbandian was appearing in his first clay court final for five years and falls to 11-13 in career singles finals 

Del Potro goes one better in Rotterdam 

2012 finalist Juan Martin Del Potro claimed the 2013 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament title in Rotterdam with a 7-6(7-2), 6-3 defeat of Julien Benneteau.

Unseeded Benneteau had knocked out reigning champion Roger Federer in the quarter finals and the Frenchman began the final with an immediate break to leave 2-0.

Del Potro struck back with two breaks but saw the Frenchman break back in the tenth game.  The 2nd seed dominated the tie-break and opened a 3-0 lead in the second before clinching victory after an hour and 37 minutes. 

Stat Attack – Del Potro

• Del Potro has won 14 of his 19 career singles finals 
• The 7th ranked Argentinean is 365 points behind No.6 Tomas Berdych 

Stat Attack – Benneteau

• The 31 year-old moves up to No.31 just five spots below his career high achieved in April 2012 

Raonic secures San Jose hat trick

Milos Raonic won the SAP Open with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Tommy Haas to take the title in San Jose for a third successive year.

The top seeded Canadian has never dropped a set in his three visits to San Jose and maintained that record with a strong performance against former World No.2 Haas.

Raonic converted the only break point to take the opening set and broke Haas twice in the second set to seal his fourth ATP World Tour title after an hour and 25 minutes of play.

Stat Attack – Raonic

• The Canadian is the first player to win three consecutive San Jose titles since Tony Trabert in 1953-55  
• Raonic has been ranked between 13th and 15th since the 10th September last year 

Stat Attack – Haas

• By reaching his 25th career singles final the German equals his highest ranking since 8th March 2010 at No.18