Victoria Azarenka overcomes Li Na, crowd to win again

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 15px;">By John Pye From: </span><a href="http://bostonglobe.com/">http://bostonglobe.com</a><br /><br /><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="The water works began soon after Victoria Azarenka defended her Australian Open title in three sets." src="http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_371w/Boston/2011-2020/2013/01/27/BostonGlobe.com/Sports/Images/03556537.jpg" /></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">MELBOURNE — Victoria Azarenka had the bulk of the crowd against her. The fireworks were fizzling out, and when she looked over the net, she saw Li Na crashing to the court and almost knocking herself out.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Considering the cascading criticism she'd encountered after her previous win, Azarenka didn’t need the focus of the Australian Open final to be on another medical timeout.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So after defending her title with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over the sixth-seeded Li in one of the most unusual finals ever at Melbourne Park, Azarenka understandably dropped her racket and cried tears of relief late Saturday night.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">She heaved as she sobbed into a towel beside the court, before regaining her composure to collect the trophy.</div><div class="ad aside" data-adname-complete="true" data-adname="CENTRAL" style="background-color: white; border-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px; clear: both; display: inline; float: right; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin: 0.5em -79px 1.5em 38.599998474121094px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 311px;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="260" scrolling="no" src="http://rmedia.boston.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_sx.ads/www.bostonglobe.com/sports/other/article/@CENTRAL?rid=9469129655&status=loggedout" style="background-color: transparent; border-width: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 310px; min-height: 265px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="100%"></iframe></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">‘‘It isn’t easy, that’s for sure, but I knew what I had to do,’’ the 23-year-old Belarussian said. ‘‘I had to stay calm. I had to stay positive. I just had to deal with the things that came onto me.’’</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">There were a lot of those things squeezed into the 2-hour-40-minute match. Li, who was playing her second Australian Open final in three years, twisted her ankle and tumbled to the court in the second and third sets.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The second time was on the point immediately after a 10-minute delay for the Australia Day fireworks — a fixture in downtown Melbourne every Jan. 26, but not usually coinciding with a final.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Li had been sitting in her chair during the break, while Azarenka jogged and swung her racket before leaving the court to rub some liniment into her legs.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The 30-year-old Chinese player had tumbled to the court after twisting her left ankle and had it taped after falling in the fifth game of the second set. Immediately after the fireworks ceased, and with smoke still in the air, she twisted the ankle again, fell and hit the back of her head on the hardcourt.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The 2011 French Open champion was treated immediately by a tournament doctor and assessed for a concussion in another medical timeout before resuming the match.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">‘‘I think I was a little bit worried when I was falling,’’ Li said, in her humorous, self-deprecating fashion. ‘‘Because two seconds I couldn’t really see anything. It was totally black.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">‘‘So when the physio come, she was like, ‘Focus on my finger.’ I was laughing. I was thinking, ‘This is tennis court, not like hospital.’ ’’</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Li’s injury attracted even more support for her from the 15,000-strong crowd.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Azarenka had generated some bad PR by taking a medical timeout after wasting five match points on her own serve in her semifinal win over American teenager Sloane Stephens Thursday. She came back after the break and finished off Stephens in the next game, later telling an on-court interviewer that she ‘‘almost did the choke of the year.’’</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">She was accused of gamesmanship and manipulating the rules to get time to regain her composure against Stephens, but defended herself by saying she actually was having difficulty breathing because of a rib injury that needed to be fixed.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">That explanation didn’t convince everybody. So when she walked onto Rod Laver Arena Saturday, there were some people who booed, and others who heckled her or mimicked the distinctive hooting sound she makes when she hits the ball.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">‘‘Unfortunately, you have to go through some rough patches to achieve great things,’’ she said. ‘‘That’s what makes it so special for me. I went through that, and I'm still able to kiss that beautiful trophy.’’</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">She didn’t hold a grudge.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">‘‘I was expecting way worse, to be honest,” she said. “What can you do? You just have to go out there and try to play tennis in the end of the day,’’ she said. ‘‘It’s a tennis match, tennis battle, final of the Australian Open. I was there to play that.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">‘‘The things what happened in the past, I did the best thing I could to explain, and it was left behind me already.’’</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The match contained plenty of nervy moments and tension, and 16 service breaks — nine for Li. But it also produced plenty of winners and bravery on big points.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Azarenka will retain the No. 1 ranking she has mostly held since her first Grand Slam win in Melbourne last year.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Li moved into the top five and is heartened by a recent trend of Australian runner-ups winning the French Open. She accomplished that in 2011, as did Ana Ivanovic (2008) and Maria Sharapova (2012).</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Later Saturday, Bob and Mike Bryan won their record 13th Grand Slam men’s doubles title, defeating the Dutch team of Robin Haase and Igor Sijsling, 6-3, 6-4.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1.125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sunday’s men’s final features two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic and US Open winner Andy Murray. Djokovic is seeking to become the first man in the Open era to win three titles in a row in Australia.</div></div>

Li Na Victoria Azarenka Victoria Azarenka overcomes Li Na, crowd to win again

By John Pye From:  http://bostonglobe.com MELBOURNE — Victoria Azarenka had the bulk of the crowd against her. The fireworks were fizzling o...

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