Maria Sharapova Defeats Victoria Azarenka At 2012 TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships, Sets Up Match With Serena Williams In The Final

Maria Sharapova (click to enlarge)

Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it. Although my head tells me Victoria Azarenka matches up better with Serena Williams than Maria Sharapova, I wanted to see Masha and Serena in the final of the 2012 TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships. With a surprisingly dominant 6-4 6-2 win over Vika, Masha gets the honor of facing Serena for the 2012 WTA Tour Championship title. I will say, Sharapova looked as good as I’ve seen her in some time against Vika, especially considering the opponent. It was one of those matches where unforced errors don’t tell the whole story. Yes, Masha was racking them up, but she was effective swingly freely so you can live with some errors.

But against Serena, can Sharapova afford errors? Although Masha’s greatest win came against Serena in the 2004 Wimbledon final, it’s been all Williams in this head to head match-up. Not only that, recent matches have been one-sided, culminating in Serena’s lopsided Olympic victory over Masha. So win or lose, what I’d like to see is Sharapova go out and give Serena a tough match. Masha is one of the toughest fighters the women’s game has ever seen, but no matter what she says, too many crushing defeats have to make her wonder if she will ever beat Serena again. She hasn’t done so in 8 years, since the 2004 Tour Championships. Will she end the drought at the 2012 Tour Championships?