Women Tennis Update – Australian Open Sunday, January 27, 2013

Written by: Staff on 26th January 2013

Women Tennis Update - Australian Open Sunday, January 27, 2013

epa03556648 Victoria Azarenka reacts after winning 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. Azarenka won in three sets. EPA/Narendra Shrestha |

Singles – Final: (1) Victoria Azarenka def. (6) Li Na 4-6 6-4 6-3

This was a battle of wounded warriors. But Li Na’s injuries were much fresher. She was slipping and falling all over the court, and ended up with an injured ankle and a bump on the head and probably more bruises than she can count. Victoria Azarenka merely had those holdover problems from her semifinal. Even so, Li managed to lead in the third set before it all came, er, tumbling down. One of the falls was so bad that Li briefly blacked out.

It is the second Australian Open title for Azarenka, and obviously marks the first time she has defended a Slam title. She also gets to keep the #1 ranking — at least for now; she is less than 400 points ahead of Serena Williams, and she has a lot still to defend this spring. It still feels as if Serena will be #1 soon. But not as soon….

Li, who rises to #5, is probably looking forward to Roland Garros, where she can’t land quite so hard.

©Daily tennis news wire

Topics: Australian Open, Grand Slam, Li Na, Sports, Tennis News, Victoria Azarenka, Women Tennis