Eighth seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus overwhelmed fifth seed Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-1 in Sunday's WTA tournament final here to win her first title of the season.
Azarenka broke Maria three times in the first set then took advantage of 16 unforced errors in the second set by Maria while committing only one to win the 700,000-dollar hardcourt event.
Sharapova, who had won 17 of 20 prior matches, missed a chance to claim her third title of the year and jump above her 15th-place ranking to her best ranking since returning from a shoulder injury in May of 2009.
"Congratulations to 'Nika on great playing and a great week," Sharapova said. "I'm sure we will be playing many more times so I will get my revenge."
Azarenka, now 2-2 against Sharapova, needed four set points but finally took the first set when the Russian sent a backhand wide. Azarenka twice rallied from 0-30 to hold serve, denying Sharapova a third break to level.
"Maria is a great player. I had to dig my way in," Azarenka said. "I was running a lot. It was tough to hold my serve. I had to play really well. I'm glad I kept fighting. Point by point it worked for me."
Azarenka broke Sharapova to open the second set and again to seize a 4-1 lead and in the final game, which she claimed at love when Sharapova netted a forehand.
S! You do nothing but cause trouble and I'm tired of you being around!
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