Victoria Azarenka yesterday displayed the kind of form that could lead her to a hat-trick of Australian Open titles later this month by brushing aside German fourth-seed Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-1 in the Brisbane International final.
The former world No. 1 has been plagued by injury over the past two years, but the world No. 22 showed little sign of rust this week on her way to a second Brisbane crown.
The Belarussian dropped only 17 games over five matches during the tournament and claimed her first title since the Cincinnati Masters in August 2013.
Photo: EPA
The 26-year-old, who won her maiden Brisbane title in 2009, took control of the match against world No. 10 Kerber after an early trade of breaks in the first set and then peppered the court with her powerful groundstrokes.
Kerber, the highest seed left after the withdrawals of Maria Sharapova, Simona Halep and Garbine Muguruza, had three break points in the opening game of the second set, but once Azarenka fended them off, she did not look back.
Azarenka won back-to-back Australian Open titles from 2012 and has reached the US Open final twice, losing both to world No. 1 Serena Williams.
Roger Federer and Milos Raonic are set to meet again in the men’s final today, in what is to be a reprise of last year’s decider.
Defending champion Federer, who has been dealing all week with lingering flu-like symptoms, yesterday had a 6-1, 6-4 win over eighth-seeded Dominic Thiem, while Raonic earlier beat local hope Bernard Tomic 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5).
Federer held off Raonic in three sets last year, earning his 1,000th career match win as he clinched the Brisbane title.
“It was my best match of the tournament. I hit the ball very well. I’m very excited to be back in the final — it’s special playing Milos again tomorrow,” said Federer, who is one win away from his 89th career title. “I’ve come here three times now and three times I’ve made the final, so I’m very happy.”
Federer lost to Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt in the 2014 final, his first trip to the Brisbane tournament.
There were no service breaks in the first of the semi-finals, but Raonic dominated the tiebreakers, racing to 5-1 leads in both and then holding off Tomic after the Australian leveled each tiebreaker at 5-5.
Raonic stopped working with Ivan Ljubicic late last year and recently hired Carlos Moya as a coach. Llubicic is now working as part of Federer’s team.
The Canadian missed the French Open last year because of a foot problem and later dropped out of the top 10.
“It’s sort of confirming to myself and the people close to me that we’re on the right track, doing the right kind of work, and the progress is there,” Raonic said of his confident start to the season. “So tomorrow [today] is a great test for me, and one that I’m going to try to make the most of.”
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