Istanbul, Turkey – Fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka and robin wins Wednesday at the ending $4.55 million WTA Championships.
Azarenka (1-0) made her first action of the week count as she whipped seventh-seeded U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-2 on the indoor hardcourts at Sinan Erdem Dome. The Australian Stosur fell to 1-1 in this week's four-player White Group and is now 0-5 lifetime against Azarenka.
"I didn't play aggressive enough...I don't feel like I did anything," said Stosur, who upset second-seeded Maria Sharapova for the first time in 10 tries here on Tuesday before succumbing to Azarenka on Wednesday. "I just kind of got pushed around the court, and eventually was made to make an error or she would hit a winner."
The hot Azarenka is fresh off her title in Luxembourg last week.
A fifth-seeded Li (1-0), meanwhile, notched her first win in two months by upending the Wimbledon runner-up Sharapova 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 on Day 2. Li, who was also this year's Australian Open runner-up and is the first-ever Asian player to reach the WTA Championships, had struggled mightily since capturing her first-ever Grand Slam title in Paris back in June.
The three-time Grand Slam champion and former world No. 1 Sharapova fell to 0-2 for the week and is close to being out of contention for the semifinals here. The 2004 champion is the only former titlist in this year's Championships field.
This week's White Group is comprised of Sharapova, Azarenka, Li and Stosur. The 24-year-old Sharapova is competing in the Championships for the first time since 2007.
Round-robin play is being staged here from Tuesday through Friday, while the semifinals will be held on Saturday and the lucrative final will be presented on Sunday.
The 2011 WTA Championships winner will collect at least $1.75 million.
