Tennis Elbow: Azarenka is the new sheriff in town… for now

Welcome to Tennis Elbow, a new column that will look back on the week that was in the world of tennis. This week, Charles Blouin-Gascon examines Victoria Azarenka and what her win at the Australian Open might mean for the WTA.

Entering the Australian Open, six players could have become the WTA’s No. 1 player–including the Dame of the moment, Caroline Wozniacki. And at the end of the tournament’s two weeks, only one was left–Victoria Azarenka.

This is the current state of the WTA, and most would agree that it’s a sad one–tennis thrives when its most dominant players win one, two or three major tournaments in a year, but not when three different players win the four majors–which is what has happened in women’s tennis recently. Consider that 13 players have won a Grand Slam tournament since 2005 in the WTA, while only Marat Safin (Australian Open, 2005) and Juan Martin Del Potro (US Open, 2009) have managed to beat the Novak Djokovic/Rafael Nadal/Roger Federer triumvirate of the men’s side.

The WTA needs more Serena Williamses than Amélie Mauresmoes–and this is nothing personal against the French player. It needs a select few dominant and polarizing players rather than a large pool of hopefuls who can win any tournament. (And if nothing else, the two Williams sisters were, and still are, just that. They simply don’t play enough anymore.)

Azarenka’s win over Maria Sharapova at the Australian Open was such a convincing one–6-3, 6-0–that she just might be the superstar that the WTA has been lacking for so long. Indeed, for the previous 67 weeks the WTA had a queen that seemed undeserving of her position in Denmark’s Wozniacki. Still now, Wozniacki doesn’t win her matches as much as she doesn’t lose them and forces you, rather, to lose. It’s like she can’t beat her opponents, but that they can definitely lose to her.

Azarenka, meanwhile, can definitely beat anybody on the WTA Tour. With her win over Sharapova a week ago or so, she captured a rare triple crown, winning her first Grand Slam title, her first Australian Open and the world’s No. 1 ranking all at once.

Azarenka, a native of Minsk, Belarus, has everything going for her. She has the looks–blond, young and 6’. For good or bad, there’s a reason why Anna Kournikova became a household name despite winning as many singles tournaments as I have in her career. But Azarenka can play too, unlike Kournikova. She has the groundstrokes and the serve, the all-important high-pitched shriek and, most importantly, the belief that she can hit her shots. And now, she also has the Grand Slam title.

Because of that, things should continue to get better before they get worse for Azarenka. Her skills compare favourably to other WTA players, as she’s able to either outmuscle them during long rallies or dictate the play when needed. Azarenka doesn’t shy away from the moment and goes after her shots–and she can vary her game depending on what is needed of her. Most importantly, she’s likely as confident as she’s ever been after her first Grand Slam title.

The question, moving forward, isn’t so much how will the fallen queen, Wozniacki, respond but how will Azarenka handle her new status. At the very least, she will not have to answer questions on when she might win her first Grand Slam title. “Been there, done that,” is all she needs to say. She’s the current world No. 1 and, unlike her predecessor, she’s also a champion on the biggest of stages.

For all of that, Azarenka is the new sheriff in town of the WTA

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