Samantha Stosur received a stark reminder of the gulf that remains between her and the world No.1 tennis ranking as she was routed 6-1 6-2 by incumbent Victoria Azarenka.
The Belarussian made light of a lingering ankle injury as she extended her career dominance over world No.5 Stosur to 6-0 with an easy victory in the Qatar Open final on Sunday to claim her third title of the year.
It was Azarenka’s 17th straight victory and her first title since replacing Caroline Wozniacki as No.1 after winning last month’s Australian Open.
Reaching the final was a welcome change of fortune for Australia’s US Open champion Stosur, having won only one match in three tournaments on home soil to start the year.
But Azarenka showed she is at another level and Stosur has her work cut out if she is go much higher in the rankings.
Not only is she winless against Azarenka, she has beaten No.2 Maria Sharapova only once in 10 meetings and is 0-3 against Wimbledon champion and No.3 Petra Kvitova, although her 3-2 record against No.4 Wozniacki is more heartening.
Azarenka said she opted for a super aggressive approach against Stosur after twisting her left ankle in her semi-final against Agnieszka Radwanska.
“I knew I wouldn’t be 100 per cent, so I had to change and adjust. I was just surprised today that everything was going in,” said Azarenka.
“I was trying to be really aggressive and not to let her command it, because that’s what she likes to do.
“She has a huge serve, and the first shot, that’s what she puts the opponent on the run, and you run like so far behind the baseline. So I tried to take that away from her.”
She kept Stosur’s potent kick serve in check with her return game, resulting in her opponent winning only 50 per cent of first-serve points and 48 per cent on the second.
Azarenka also displayed a range of shots and ran down most balls, forcing Stosur to make 25 unforced errors to only eight for the Belarussian.
“She’s very good at neutralising everything,” Stosur said. “Especially tonight, I feel like I didn’t get rewarded for hitting big serves. I didn’t get rewarded for stepping in and trying to crack the return.”
Stosur said Azarenka is benefiting from a growing belief in her game that comes with winning her first grand slam title and the longest winning streak since Maria Sharapova’s 18-match run in 2008.
“I think the biggest difference is probably just her confidence that she’s playing with at the moment,” Stosur said.
“When you’re like that, you seem to do everything a little bit better … obviously I haven’t had success, and hopefully tonight I have been able to learn a couple of things and I can go into the next one maybe with something else to think about.”
