How Victoria Azarenka Can Beat Serena Williams
With Nikolay Davydenko wrapping up his match on Vodafone Arena, Serena Williams is about to meet up with Victoria Azarenka. Now upsetting Serena is a daunting task for any player not named Justine Henin, it’s not impossible and here is what Azarenka will have to do to pull it off.
1. She needs a high percentage of first serves in and to win a high percentage of second serve points.
2. Paint the corners. She will need to go deep in the court with her shots to get Serena pushed back and to hit the ball up.
3. Keep the points short. Azarenka can’t let Serena get into a rhythm and pound the ball away.
4. Hit the ball back to Serena then go for the winner deep in the corner.
5. Mix it up. Throw in slices and spins with the hard shots. Push Serena back, then throw in a drop shot.
6. Take care of her serve and move in when returning Serena’s serve especially on the second serve. Really move in, remember what Radwanska did against Sharapova at the US Open? Try that. If it doesn’t work, at least you took the chance, but if it does work, you’ll get in her head and make her over think her serve.
7. Push her to play her best earlier than she wants. Let’s face it, it’s the first week and it’s a third round match. Serena won’t play as hard as she would if it were a final against Ivanovic. If Azarenka can catch her off guard early in the match (not easy since Azarenka is seeded and has a lot of hype) Victoria could get a lead that she will have to work hard to maintain.
Good luck Victoria, we’re all pulling for you!