Azarenka routs Sharapova in Australian Open final

Victoria Azarenka of Belarus absolutely routed Maria Sharapova of Russia Saturday night to not only claim the 2012 Australian Open title, but also to take over the World No. 1 ranking.

The match was over in just 1 hour 22 minutes as Azarenka handily took down three-time Grand Slam winner Sharapova 6-3, 6-0, winning 12 of the last 13 games after dropping her first service game and falling behind 2-0.

It was Azarenka’s first Grand Slam final appearance, winning 11 straight matches to get there. Her previous best performance at a major was a semifinal loss to Petra Kvitova at Wimbledon last year.

Li triumphs over Schiavone at French Open final

No. 6 seed, Na Li became the first Chinese tennis player ever to win a Grand Slam title with a straight sets win over No. 5 seed, defending champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-4, 7-6 (7-0).

Li took advantage of one break to secure the first set. She gained an early break in the 2nd set and had break points to go up two breaks. However, Schiavone picked up momentum, saved that game and broke back to even the set. Schiavone went up 6-5 and Li held to send the 2nd set into a tie-break.

Wozniacki survives scare from Schiavone

No. 1 seed, Caroline Wozniacki survived a scare from No. 6 seed Francesca Schiavone in a Quarterfinal match at the 2011 Australian Open, but prevailed 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.

It was evident from the start that Schiavone came to play, and the battle was on. Everyone thought Schiavone would be exhausted from her record-long match in round four. She had played more than twice as long total match time during the tournament as Wozniacki. But she came out showing no signs of fatigue.

Schiavone outlasts Kuznetsova in record-setting match

French Open champion, Francesca Schiavone of Italy, out dueled her Russian friend, Svetlana Kuznetsova, in the longest women’s singles match in Grand Slam history, winning 6-4, 1-6, 16-14.

The 30-game 3rd set alone took exactly three hours. The first two sets lasted 51 and 53 minutes for a total match time of 4 hours, 44 minutes.

After destroying last year’s finalist, Justine Henin, in straight sets in the third round, Kuznetsova should have been filled with confidence coming in against veteran Schiavone, who has never made it past the fourth round in Melbourne. But it was Schiavone who took Kuznetsova by surprise in the opening set.

Wozniacki reaches quarter-finals with win over Sevastova

World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki has reached the quarter-finals of the 2011 Australian Open in Melbourne with a straight sets win over No. 46 ranked Anastasjia Sevastova, 6-3, 6-4.

Wozniacki, 20-years-old, double-faulted to give up a break in the first game and trailed Sevastova 3-1 before sailing through the next six games.

Sevastova, also 20-years-old, fought back to 4-4 after being a break down in the second set, but served up two unforced errors to hand it straight back and Wozniacki sealed the match after whipping a cross-court forehand winner.

Kuznetsova upsets Henin at Australian Open

The 23rd seed Svetlana Kuznetsova upset No. 11 seeded Justine Henin in round three of the 2011 Australian Open in Melbourne. Svetlana took the match in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6(8).

After taking the first set, Svetlana twice served for the match. Justine broke both times sending the 2nd set to a tie-break. After several lead changes, set points for Justine and match points for Svetlana, Svetlana finally pulled out the upset at 10-8.

Justine reached the final of the Australian Open in 2010, her first Grand Slam after coming out of retirement. Now, just a year later, she suffered her worst run at a Grand Slam event since Wimbledon in 2005 when she lost in the 1st round.

Dementieva announces unexpected retirement

Olympic Champion Elena Dementieva made a surprise announcement that she is retiring at the age of 29 after losing her last group match at the year-end WTA Tour Championships in Doha on Friday. She is seen here in the photo wiping away some tears after her announcement.

The World No. 9 ranked player has given up her bid to win a Grand Slam. Since 1999, she had competed in 46 consecutive Grand Slams until she missed this year’s Wimbledon because of a calf injury. She reached the final of the French Open and the U.S. Open in 2004, but was unable to win the final match. Her career high season-ending ranking was No. 4 in 2008.

Wozniacki and Dementieva set for Tokyo final

No. 2 seed, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark and No. 11 seed, Elena Dementieva of Russia are set to face each other on Saturday in the final of the 2010 Pan Pacific Open being played in Tokyo, Japan.

Wozniacki withstood a late comeback in her semifinal match to defeat 8th seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus on Friday, 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-4 to reach the final. Dementieva had a little easier time defeating this year’s French Open champion, 5th seeded Francesca Schizvone of Italy in the other semifinal in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5.

Serena Williams pulls out of Pan Pacific Open. Surprised?

Tournament organizers say top-ranked Serena Williams has pulled out of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo scheduled for Sept. 26-Oct. 2.

Most of us are probably not surprised this time, since this is the fifth tournament Serena has missed since cutting her foot on some glass in an accident at a restaurant back in July. It doesn’t seem to really be news anymore when she pulls out of a tournament. Many don’t expect her to play. It will be news if she ever returns to action.

Kim Clijsters vs. Venus Williams in semifinal

No. 2 seed and defending champion Kim Clijsters will face No. 3 seed Venus Williams in one semifinal at the 2010 U.S. Open.

Both Clijsters and Williams have two U.S. Open titles to their name. Clijsters has won the last two times she played here, in 2005 and then again after coming out of retirement last year in 2009. Williams won in 2000 and 2001, but has struggled in the past years here.

However, Clijsters was really out of form for much of her 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 win over fifth seed Samantha Stosur in the last round on Arthur Ashe court, but found just enough composure to emerge victorious for the 19th time in a row at Flushing Meadows.