Azarenka stops Li

Victoria Azarenka ended Li Na’s unbeaten two-year run at the Sydney International with a fighting three-set victory in the final yesterday.

The Belarusian third seed claimed her ninth career WTA title with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 victory over the fourth seeded in 1hr 56min at the Ken Rosewall Arena.

Li was on a nine-match winning run in Sydney after beating Kim Clijsters in last year’s final, but was edged out by Azarenka, who ranks third in the world behind Caroline Wozniacki and Petra Kvitova.

It capped a big week for 22-year-old Azarenka with victories over Jelena Jankovic, Marion Bartoli, Agnieszka Radwanska and Li ahead of Monday’s Australian Open in Melbourne.

Despite her victory, Azarenka will remain at number three in the world, while Li is expected to drop one place to sixth behind Australian Samantha Stosur when the next rankings are released on Monday.

Azarenka is among six players with a chance of reaching the top spot depending on results at the year’s opening grand slam tournament in Melbourne.

In three trips to Australia, Li has compiled a 21-4 record, highlighted by a semi-final appearance at the 2010 Australian Open, her runner-up finish to Clijsters at last year’s Open, her Sydney win last year and the run to this week’s final.

Azarenka stormed through the opening set in 34 minutes, but encountered greater resistance in the second set when Li called her coach/husband Jiang Shan to the court and her play tightened up significantly.

She broke Azarenka twice and levelled the match when the Belarusian pushed a backhand wide.

Both players shared service breaks at the start of the final set. But when Li’s serve was broken in the eighth game, Azarenka served out for the championship, winning on her second match point.