STANFORD California (Reuters) - A charged-up Victoria Azarenka of Belarus won her first tournament of the year on Sunday by blowing away Maria Sharapova 6-4 6-1 in the final of the Stanford Classic.
In a breath-taking display of power tennis, Azarenka broke her three-time grand slam champion opponent six times, controlling the match with laser-sharp groundstrokes.
"This shows that I really believe in myself," Azarenka told reporters. "It gives me a lot of confidence, especially going into the US open."
The win capped an impressive week for wild card Azarenka, who earlier upended French champion Marion Bartoli in the quarter-finals and Australian world number five Samantha Stosur in the last four.
The two tall blondes went toe-to-toe early in the match, but the wheels came off for Sharapova when the Belarusian broke to lead 5-4 after ripping a backhand return winner. She then took the set after forcing a backhand error.
"I played a really sloppy game at 4-3, had some unforced errors off my return and she really stepped it up and took advantage of it," said Sharapova, who amassed 27 unforced errors to Azarenka's 13.
"I was always on defense after that. When I tried to get the ball rolling, I was a little too late."
'HAD TO FIGHT'
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In a breath-taking display of power tennis, Azarenka broke her three-time grand slam champion opponent six times, controlling the match with laser-sharp groundstrokes.
"This shows that I really believe in myself," Azarenka told reporters. "It gives me a lot of confidence, especially going into the US open."
The win capped an impressive week for wild card Azarenka, who earlier upended French champion Marion Bartoli in the quarter-finals and Australian world number five Samantha Stosur in the last four.
The two tall blondes went toe-to-toe early in the match, but the wheels came off for Sharapova when the Belarusian broke to lead 5-4 after ripping a backhand return winner. She then took the set after forcing a backhand error.
"I played a really sloppy game at 4-3, had some unforced errors off my return and she really stepped it up and took advantage of it," said Sharapova, who amassed 27 unforced errors to Azarenka's 13.
"I was always on defense after that. When I tried to get the ball rolling, I was a little too late."
'HAD TO FIGHT'
� Continued...
Watch Game Shows Online
