Breaking Down Azarenka, Sharapova, and Williams’ WTA Rankings by Surface
We know certain things about the WTA top three in 2012 — Victoria Azarenka was virtually unstoppable on hard courts, Maria Sharapova was unusually great on clay, and Serena Williams was undefeated on grass.
But we can take that one step further by examining the composition of their rankings. What percentage of their total ranking points was accumulated on each surface?
How the Match Was Won: Serena Williams def. Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-3
The Russian followed up her impressive performance against her frequent tormentor Victoria Azarenka on Saturday by playing at a very high level today. She served well, played some incredible defense at times, and even dared to send more than a few return winners past Serena. The eventual champion even applauded one of them at 30-0, 4-3 in the second set. The forehand down-the-line missile was that good.
Sharapova never looked defeated, and always gave it everything she had. She fought like a madwoman. Yet all she had to show for her troubles was seven games. She didn’t create a single break point on Serena’s serve, and only got to deuce once.
How the Match Was Won: Serena Williams def. Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-2, 6-1
Yesterday, Agnieszka Radwanska started her last round robin match against Sara Errani at around 6:30 pm Istanbul time. She then partook in the longest WTA Championships match in history. It lasted 3 hours and 29 minutes, and it was an epic struggle. So, she got off the court at around 10:00 pm. You know the drill: players have to wash up, get a massage and treatment for any lingering injuries, and face the press before they can leave. It usually takes around two hours for them to complete this process. So it’s safe to say Radwanska left the Istabul arena at around midnight.
