Vika Serves Notice Down Under

Victoria Azarenka defended her Australian Open title with a gritty performance over the weekend after enduring a wacky end to her tournament run.

Her 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, victory over Li Na saw nearly 30 minutes of the match disappear thanks to three interruptions, including a lengthy fireworks display for Australia Day and a 10-minute injury timeout after Li took a spill slamming her head on the court.

Ironically, it was a 10-minute injury timeout Azarenka called during her seminfinal match that set off heavy criticism from the media, players and turned some of the Melbourne fans against her.

After failing to convert five match points in her second set semifinal against American teen Sloane Stephens, Azarenka took a medical timeout. She was taken off the sweltering court for treatment, then coolly closed out the match in the next game.

"Well, I almost did the choke of the year right now at 5-3, having so many chances, I couldn't close it out," Azarenka said in her on court interview immediately after beating Stephens. "I just felt a little bit overwhelmed."

ESPN's tennis analysts quickly jumped on Azarenka accusing her of gamemanship and calling the timeout to settle down, with Patrick McEnroe upping the ante calling the move "bush league."

However, the match stats do not point to Stephens being cheated from making the finals Down Under. In every match category, from first serves in to unforced errors, Azarenka was just better. Looking at just the second set, Vika was better in most categories and tied in unforced errors.

During the critical game before Azarenka's timeout, Sloane committed three unforced errors while smacking three winners. That's on par with her performance in the rest of the second set.

Uncannily, Azarenka lost five match points during the third set at last year's U.S. Open to Serena Williams, letting her second major title slip out of her grasp. While Sloane beat Serena in the Aussie Open quarters, fans in Melbourne were likely only cheated out of a second set tiebreak. It is too much to conjecture beyond that.

Azarenka admitted mistake in not calling the trainer soon enough in her semifinal match and handled a grilling by the media with poise (watch clips below).



When it comes to dealing with injuries during a match, Azarenka has lost the benefit of the doubt with most players due to a reputation she developed for calling a trainer too often early in her career.

Just last season during her coming out party, Vika was criticized by World No. 5 Agnieszka Radwanska for "faking" injuries in the semifinals at Doha. Azarenka went on to win that tournament, one of six singles titles she claimed all on hard court surface.

In prevailing again Down Under, Victoria Azarenka has served noticed to the rest of the WTA, she is the one beat on hard court.

Virus Becomes the Talk of the Tournament

The talk of this years BNP Paribas Open has become a two-day stomach bug that's impacting everyone.

It's a nasty virus you would not wish on your own nemesis, but the worst part is it's keeping players off the courts.

A total of 10 players have withdrawn with the bug, while former champion Vera Zvonareva withdrew for another virus.

The latest big name to fall ill, Mike Bryan, of the Bryan brothers, means they still have not captured a doubles title in Indian Wells.

It is near impossible to to track where the virus came from, but World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka said she battled a similar illness between her last tournament in Dubai and the start of Indian Wells.

"I heard like a few players right before the tournament had it, and me, the same thing," Azarenka said. "It's very unfortunate, you know. You don't wish anybody that. I wasn't able to practice for two days."

The Indian Wells bug is just the latest in a rash of ailments that have plagued the start to the 2012 WTA season.

Twelve of the top 20 have retired early from a match or withdrawn from a tournament with some kind of injury or illness.

It's unfortunate the bug is taking away from the tennis and what's been a great tournament so far.