User:Avatar5991/Azarenka–Sharapova rivalry

Victoria Azarenka (left) and Maria Sharapova (right)

The Azarenka–Sharapova rivalry is between tennis players Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Maria Sharapova of Russia, who are engaged in a modern day tennis rivalry. They have played each other fifteen times with Sharapova leading 8–7 overall, 3–1 in matches decided by three sets, Azarenka leading 5–1 in all finals and 2–1 in Grand Slam matches,.

The rivalry between the two players started to intensify in 2015, with two meetings between the pair this year. Sharapova won both meetings this year, one of them on clay. Their most recent meeting was in the quarter-finals of the 2015 Internazionali BNL d'Italia with Sharapova winning 6–3, 6–2.

Notable matches

Victoria Azarenka (left) and Maria Sharapova (right) won one Grand Slam title each in 2012. Both were defeated by Serena Williams (centre) at the London Olympics; Azarenka in the semi-finals and Sharapova in the final.

2007 Kremlin Cup Second Round

This was the first ever meeting between the pair. Maria Sharapova entered this match as a Top Four player, however she had endured a frustrating season with only three finals reached and winning just one title to that point all year. Despite her favouritism coming into the match, Sharapova was upset in straight sets by the 18-year-old Victoria Azarenka, 7–6^(11–9), 6–2. It was Azarenka's second ever Top 10 victory, having defeated Nadia Petrova in Luxembourg just two weeks earlier.

2010 Bank of the West Classic Final

This was the first meeting between the pair in any WTA Tour Final. Coming into the match, Azarenka had not won a title since April 2009 whilst Sharapova was still struggling to regain form following shoulder surgery in 2008. In a match dubbed as a "Shriek-Fest", Azarenka won 6–4, 6–1 to win her first (of two) title of 2010, and her fourth overall. This was the first of two finals Sharapova would lose in the space of a fortnight, also losing the Cincinnati final to Kim Clijsters two weeks later. This win would later come at a cost for Azarenka, as she was forced to miss the Mercury Insurance Open the following week with a shoulder injury, and then she was upset in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters by Ana Ivanovic.

2011 Sony Ericsson Open Final

Their second meeting in a WTA Tour Final came in the final of the Miami Masters in April 2011. Azarenka was going for her second title at the event, having won in 2009, whilst Sharapova was winless in two previous attempts (losing in the finals of the 2005 and 2006 tournaments to Kim Clijsters and Svetlana Kuznetsova respectively). Again, Azarenka emerged victorious, winning 6–1, 6–4. It was her second title at the tournament, having claimed the biggest win of her career by defeating Serena Williams in the 2009 final. As of 2012, Sharapova still remains winless in four finals appearances in Miami.

2012 Australian Open Final

This was the most famous meeting between the pair. This was the first ever meeting between the pair at Grand Slam level, their third meeting in a final and the first of four finals the pair would play in 2012. Victoria Azarenka came into the final having defeated the defending champion Kim Clijsters in the semi-finals in three sets whilst Maria Sharapova had defeated her Wimbledon nemesis Petra Kvitová in the semi-finals, also in three sets. This was Azarenka's first ever Grand Slam final, whilst for Sharapova it was her sixth Grand Slam final appearance and her third overall in Australia. Sharapova had previously finished runner-up in 2007 to Serena Williams and won the title in 2008, defeating Ana Ivanovic in that year's final.

Sharapova made a strong start to the match, breaking Azarenka's serve in the first game and then holding her own serve to surge to an early 2–0 lead, before Azarenka found her rhythm and went on to win twelve of the next thirteen games to record a crushing 6–3, 6–0 victory in one hour and twenty-two minutes. With this victory, Azarenka became the first player from her country to win a Grand Slam singles title (previously she had won numerous Grand Slam titles in juniors and doubles) and obtain the World No. 1 ranking.

2012 US Open Semi-final

Their semi-final meeting at the 2012 US Open was their first meeting in a non-final since the quarter-finals of the 2011 Rome Masters. Azarenka entered the match as the top seed, having defeated the defending champion Samantha Stosur in a final set tiebreak in the quarter-finals, whilst Sharapova, the third seed and the champion in 2006, had also won a three-set quarter-final against Marion Bartoli. In the best match between the pair all year, Sharapova won the opening set 6–3 before Azarenka took the next two sets 6–2, 6–4, to win the match and progress to her second Grand Slam final, which she would ultimately lose to Serena Williams. This marked Azarenka's first win against Sharapova in a match to be decided in three sets.

2013 French Open Semi-final

Their first meeting of 2013 came at the semi-finals of the french open, where Sharapova was the defending champion. The match was very anticipated by commentators and fans seeing Azarenka's lead in the head to head but loss of previous match, and Sharapova's dominance on Clay courts but Azarenka's improvement on said surface. The first set was dominated by Sharapova, who took it 6-1. In the second set it was noted that Sharapova became erratic and Azarenka sabilized her game, resulting in a 2-6 set in favour of Azarenka. In the third set, Sharapova dominated early, taking a commanding 5-2 lead and serving for the match, which she failed to to, and squandered several Match Points in the process. She was given a second Chance to serve for the Match at 5-4 up and managed to do so this time, winning the match 6-1 2-6 6-4. It was Sharapova's first win over Azarenka in a Grand Slam tournament.

Head to head

Legend A vs S Grand Slam tournaments (2–1) WTA Tour Championships (0–1) Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (3–2) Premier (2–2) International (0–0) Azarenka–Sharapova (7–8) No. Year Tournament Surface Round Winner Score Azarenka Sharapova 1. 2007 Kremlin Cup Hard (i) Second round Azarenka 7–6(11–9), 6–2 1 0 2. 2009 Los Angeles Hard Second round Sharapova 6–7, 6–4, 6–2 1 1 3. 2009 Beijing Hard Second round Sharapova 6–3, 6–7, 7–5 1 2 4. 2010 Stanford Hard Final Azarenka 6–4, 6–1 2 2 5. 2011 Miami Hard Final Azarenka 6–1, 6–4 3 2 6. 2011 Rome Clay Quarter-Final Sharapova 4–6, 3–0 ret. 3 3 7. 2012 Australian Open Hard Final Azarenka 6–3, 6–0 4 3 8. 2012 Indian Wells Hard Final Azarenka 6–2, 6–3 5 3 9. 2012 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix Clay Final Sharapova 6–1, 6–4 5 4 10. 2012 US Open Hard Semi-Final Azarenka 3–6, 6–2, 6–4 6 4 11. 2012 Beijing Hard Final Azarenka 6–3, 6–1 7 4 12. 2012 Istanbul Hard Semi-Final Sharapova 6–4, 6–2 7 5 13. 2013 French Open Clay Semi-Final Sharapova 6–1, 2–6, 6–4 7 6 14. 2015 Indian Wells Hard Third round Sharapova 6–4, 6–3 7 7 15. 2015 Rome Clay Quarter-Final Sharapova 6–3, 6–2 7 8 Analysis Head-to-head tallies All matches: Sharapova, 8–7 Grand Slam matches: Azarenka, 2–1 Matches lasting three sets: Sharapova, 3–1 All finals: Azarenka, 5–1 Grand Slam finals: Azarenka, 1–0 Premier finals: Azarenka, 4–1 Results on each surface Hard courts: Azarenka, 7–4 Clay courts: Sharapova, 4–0 Grass courts: N/A Performance timeline comparison (Grand Slam tournaments) Since 2006 Main article: Tennis performance timeline comparison (women) Key W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G S B NMS NTI P NH (W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record. To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended. Bold = players met during this tournament Player 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 AUS FRA WIM USA AUS FRA WIM USA AUS FRA WIM USA AUS FRA WIM USA AUS FRA WIM USA AUS FRA WIM USA AUS FRA WIM USA AUS FRA WIM USA AUS FRA WIM USA AUS FRA WIM USA Victoria Azarenka 1R 1R 1R 3R 3R 1R 3R 4R 3R 4R 3R 3R 4R QF QF 3R QF 1R 3R 2R 4R QF SF 3R W 4R SF F W SF 2r F QF A 2R QF 4R 3R QF QF Maria Sharapova SF 4R SF W F SF 4R 3R W 4R 2R A A QF 2R 3R 1R 3R 4R 4R 4R SF F 3R F W 4R SF SF F 2r A 4R W 4R 4R F 4R SF A See also Azarenka–S. Williams rivalry WTA Big Three List of tennis rivalries References Category:Tennis rivalries|}|}