Return Winners: the 2013 WTA Cincinnati final

Victoria Azarenka and Serena Williams continued their rivalry in the Cincinnati final in 2013.

In their first tournament of 2013 in Brisbane, Australia, Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka were slated to meet in the semifinals before Azarenka had to withdraw with an injury. The Belarussian bounced back at the Australian Open, where she defended her title.

The two did face each other shortly thereafter in the Doha final, where Azarenka earned only her second win against Williams in 14 matches. When they met again in the final in Rome on clay a few months after, Williams routed Azarenka.

With the top spot in the rankings going back and forth between them over the course of the year, Williams—ranked No. 1—and Azarenka at 2 both advanced to the final in Cincinnati, one of the premier events leading up to the last Grand Slam of the season, the U.S. Open.

At the beginning of this match, it appeared that the No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup wasn’t going to be a battle as Williams broke in the first game, then secured another one at 4-1. The American cruised from there, clinching the opening set 6-2.

Williams, one of the best front-runners in the history of the sport, had won her last five finals when she took the first set. However, Azarenka was able to turn the tide in the second, breaking Williams three times in all to level the match after posting her own 6-2 scoreline.

While both players struggled with errors in the first two sets, the third saw them tighten up their games. Breaks of serve were still crucial: After exchanging two of them—including at 5-4, when Williams served for the match—the decider went to a tiebreak. After a two hours and 30 minutes, the match ended when Williams hit a forehand into the net, clinching Azarenka’s third tournament triumph of the year.

3

This was Williams’ third career deciding tiebreak loss in a final against two wins, one of which came in her first-ever final against Amelie Mauresmo at the Open GDF Suez in 1999.

4

Azarenka’s Cincinnati title made it the fourth time in five years she won three or more tournaments in a season.

6

In all six of her hard-court tournaments for the year to this point, Azarenka reached the quarterfinals or better.

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