AUSTRALIAN OPEN – Melbourne, Australia January 26, 2013

Written by: Staff on 26th January 2013

AUSTRALIAN OPEN - Melbourne, Australia January 26, 2013

epa03556736 Victoria Azarenka hits a backhand during the women's final between Li Na of China and Victoria Azarenka of Belarus at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 26 January 2013. EPA/BARBARA WALTON |

Results – Saturday, January 26, 2013

Singles – Final

(1) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) d. (6) Li Na (CHN) 46 64 63

Doubles – Final (played Friday)

(1) Errani/Vinci (ITA/ITA) d. (WC) Barty/Dellacqua (AUS/AUS) 62 36 62

Final Facts

– Azarenka wins her second Grand Slam title; her first came at last year’s Australian Open.

– Azarenka is the eighth player – after Court, Goolagong, Graf, Seles, Hingis, Capriati and Williams – to have defended her Australian Open title.

– Azarenka’s win-loss record in Grand Slam finals now stands at 2-1 and 15-11 in WTA finals; 14 of her 15 titles have come on hardcourts.

– Azarenka has now won her last 21 matches in Australia; her last defeat was against Li in the fourth round of the 2011 Australian Open.

– Azarenka becomes the fifth active player to have won multiple Grand Slam singles titles; the others are Kuznetsova (two), Sharapova (four) and Serena (15) and Venus Williams (seven).

– Li falls to 1-2 in Grand Slam finals, and 7-9 in WTA finals.

– Azarenka and Li were meeting for the 10th time; Azarenka now leads the head-to-head record 6-4.

– Azarenka will stay at No.1, while Li will rise to No.5 when the new rankings are released on Monday.

– Errani and Vinci win their third Grand Slam title together; they have now won 14 WTA titles as a team.

– Errani and Vinci, who were runners-up last year, are the first all-Italian team to win the Australian Open.

Final Quotes

Victoria Azarenka: “It’s been a wonderful two weeks for me. I will always keep a very special memory of this court – it will always be in my heart. And also congratulations to Li Na – it has been a great start of the year for you – best of luck and I hope to see you in many more finals.”

Li Na: “First, congratulations to Victoria. Thanks to my team, though two weeks ago I really hated them because they were pushing me a lot! And thanks to all the fans here for supporting me so much. I know I’m not young, but I have to say I’m really looking forward to coming back next year.”

Topics: Australian Open, Errani, Grand Slam Finals, Li Na, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News, Victoria Azarenka, Vinci, Wta