Sport

Azarenka ends Li Na’s winning run

January 13, 2012 | 12:00 AM

Victoria Azarenka of Belarus holds up the winners trophy after defeating Li Na of China during the women’s final at the Sydney International in Sydney, yesterday. (EPA

AFP/SydneyVictoria Azarenka ended Li Na’s unbeaten two-year run at the Sydney International with a fighting three-set victory in the final yesterday. The Belarusian third seed claimed her ninth career WTA title with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 victory over the fourth seeded Chinese star in 1hr 56min on Ken Rosewall Arena. French Open champion Li was on a nine-match winning run in Sydney after beating Kim Clijsters in last year’s final, but was edged out by Azarenka, who ranks third in the world behind Caroline Wozniacki and Petra Kvitova. It capped a big week for 22-year-old Azarenka with victories over Jelena Jankovic, Marion Bartoli, Agnieszka Radwanska and Li ahead of Monday’s Australian Open in Melbourne. Despite her victory Azarenka will remain at number three in the world, while Li is expected to drop one place to sixth behind Australian Samantha Stosur when the next rankings are released on Monday. Azarenka is among six players with a chance of reaching the top spot depending on results at the year’s opening grand slam tournament in Melbourne. In three trips to Australia Li has compiled a 21-4 record, highlighted by a semi-final appearance at the 2010 Australian Open, her runner-up finish to Clijsters at last year’s Open, her Sydney win last year and the run to this week’s final. Li heads to Melbourne on form after a dip in the second half of last year following her landmark French Open success, which saw her become the first Asian to win a grand slam title.

Nieminen eyes Sydney win ahead of Melbourne Park

Finnish qualifier Jarkko Nieminen has vowed to arrest a horrendous finals record in the decider of the Sydney International on Saturday and build some momentum for his Australian Open encounter with David Nalbandian. Nieminen, who beat Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin 7-6 6-3 in the first semi-final on Friday, will face French journeyman Julien Benneteau for the Sydney title and hopes to improve his poor run of one win from 11 finals. Benneteau, who stunned Marcos Baghdatis 6-4 6-4 in the other Sydney semi-final, is also no stranger to big stage letdowns having lost all five of his previous finals. Nieminen said he had been overmatched in most of his title games and that his poor record was not a concern. “It’s not the best, but I haven’t felt like the finals have been a big thing for me,” he said. “At least half of those losses I didn’t have any chances. “I had Federer twice, a few matches in which I basically got destroyed. I was just simply the second best player of the week. I tried my best. Obviously it hasn’t been enough to win more titles, but hopefully I can take one more tomorrow.” Nieminen said Nalbandian would be a tough draw at Melbourne Park but it could have been a lot worse.

January 13, 2012 | 12:00 AM