Azarenka prevails; Serena wins again at WTA Championships
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka saved two match points in her opening-match victory, while two-time titlist Serena Williams improved to 2-0 in round-robin play at the season-ending WTA Championships in Istanbul.
Azarenka staved off fifth-seeded German left-hander Angelique Kerber 6-7 (11-13), 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 in a high-quality 3-hour, 6-minute battle on Wednesday. The Belarusian star saved the match points en route to forcing a second-set tiebreak, which she wound up dominating before coming out on top in a tight third.
The 23-year-old Azarenka now needs only one more win this week to end the year at No. 1.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Azarenka and Williams will square off on Thursday, with the American seeking a fifth win in five tries this year. Williams beat Azarenka in last month's U.S. Open finale.
The Australian Open champion Azarenka was last year's WTA Championships runner-up to Czech southpaw Petra Kvitova, who pulled out of the Istanbul field on Wednesday due to a viral illness.
Meanwhile, the third-seeded former top-ranked great Williams got past eighth- seeded former French Open champion Li Na, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3, indoors at Sinan Erdem Dome. The powerful American smacked six aces in the 1-hour, 50-minute victory.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The 2012 Wimbledon, U.S. Open and Olympic champion Williams captured WTA Championships titles in 2001 and 2009 and is a two-time runner-up at this prestigious event.
This week's four-player Group A features Azarenka (1-0), Williams (2-0), Kerber (0-2) and Li (0-1), while Group B boasts second-seeded 2004 champion and 2007 WTA Championships runner-up Maria Sharapova (1-0), Wimbledon runner- up Agnieszka Radwanska (1-0), seventh-seeded French Open runner-up Sara Errani (0-1) and Sam Stosur, who replaced last year's Championships winner Kvitova in this week's field.
The top-two players in each group will advance to the semifinals. with the winners squaring off in the lucrative final on Sunday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Also in Istanbul on Thursday, Kerber will face Li and Errani will tangle with a ninth-seeded Stosur.
The winner of this $4.9 million event could collect as much as $1.75 million.