Victoria Azarenka and Serena Williams’ rivalry continued in the 2013 Doha final.
In the second half of 2012, Serena Williams was a dominant force on the WTA Tour, sweeping through the biggest events, including Wimbledon and the US Open. However, she was unable to overtake Victoria Azarenka, her closest rival at the time, in the standings as the Belarussian finished the year at No. 1.
Entering the new year, Azarenka defended her title at the Australian Open to keep her grip on the top spot for a bit longer. Both players converged in Doha for their next event, and by reaching the quarterfinals, Williams was finally able to get back to No. 1. It was only fitting that the two top seeds should advance to the championship match there in a clash between the best in the game.
In the first set, Azarenka scored an early break to go up 2-1, but Williams managed to get back on serve and the two remained even until the tiebreak. There, Williams had an opportunity to get the advantage in the match, earning a set point at 6-5, but a missed forehand spared Azarenka. From there, Azarenka claimed the next two points to take the opener.
Williams turned up her level of play in the second set, while Azarenka struggled with her serve. That combination led to a 6-2 score line in favor of Williams. For only the third time in their matches against each other, with the most recent one coming at the US Open final a few months prior, they were going to a deciding set.
In the first game, Azarenka went down 0-30 on her serve, but fought back to hold and then broke Williams. It was the current No. 1’s chance to roll from there as she went up 5-2 and earned a match point, which Williams fought off. However, she couldn’t hold off the charge in the next game as Azarenka won the set 6-3 to clinch her second title of the year.
2
This was only Azarenka’s second win over Williams, with both victories coming in finals: She topped the American in 2009 in Miami.
3
The set she dropped to Williams in the final was only the third Azarenka had lost over the year to this point out of 14 matches.
31
At 31 years and five months, Williams became the oldest WTA player to gain the No. 1 ranking.
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