World number one Serena Williams defeated Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 7-5 on Saturday to defend her title at the Brisbane International and send a signal to her opponents on her readiness for this month's Australian Open.
Williams extended her winning streak to 22 matches with the emphatic win over the reigning Australian Open champion, making it back-to-back victories over two of her main rivals. Earlier in the semifinals, she beat four-time major winner Maria Sharapova in straight sets to win her 14th straight match against the said rival.
She improved to 14-3 against Azarenka, the last person to beat her last year. More importantly for the world number one, the tournament win prepared her for the Australian Open.
"It was a great test. It showed me where my level was," Williams said as quoted by USA Today. "I'm happy I was able to play both Maria and Victoria, because they brought their A games against me. I know now what I need to do for Melbourne - I look forward to it."
The first major of the year starts on January 14 and Williams is clearly the favorite to claim her sixth Australian title after her impressive showing in the Brisbane International that featured six of the top 10 women tens players in the world.
For her part, Azarenka said she hopes to face Williams again in Melbourne. Because they are the top two ranked players, they can only meet in the final.
"I can't say I'm satisfied today, but I want to take the positive, what I've done today, and build from here towards the next week," Azarenka said. "This is the first week where you really test yourself where your game is at, and from here you can take the positives and the things that you have to work on and really go after that."
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