NEW YORK — Victoria Azarenka is the last woman standing between Serena Williams and her 17th Grand Slam singles title.
The two top seeds will meet in the U.S. Open final Sunday afternoon after each won their semifinals in straight sets on a sun-splashed Friday afternoon inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. It will mark the first time since 2003 that the two top seeds will play for the title.
More broadly, Azarenka, the 24-year-old from Belarus who has beaten Serena twice this year on outdoor hardcourts, may be the only woman who can slow Serena’s assault on the record books.
Not only on Sunday but in the next few years as well.
“When you play against Serena, you have to play your best because she makes me play my best,” Azarenka said after beating unseeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy, 6-4, 6-2.
“I think we kind of raise each other’s level all the time and take each other to the limit. To go out of that place where you sometimes don’t know, you know, how far you can go, but you just still go for it.”
With 16 career Majors, Williams stands two back of icons Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova (18 apiece), and eight behind all-time leader Margaret Court (24).
According to Evert and Billie Jean King, Williams may already be the best female tennis player of all time. If she adds a few more majors in the coming years, that title will hardly be debatable.
Azarenka says Williams already owns that title.
“She’s obviously an amazing player, she’s the greatest of all time,” Azarenka said.
Williams will turn 32 on Sept. 26 and her time atop the women’s game will not last forever.
Still, with her current level of domination it isn’t hard to imagine Serena winning a couple of majors per year for the next two or three years to challenge Steffi Graf (22) and Court at the top of the all-time list.
Consider that Williams is now 66-4 this year and has won eight titles, including the French Open.
At this Open, she has lost 16 total games. She won 24 straight games across three matches — including a 6-0, 6-0 rout of poor Carla Suarez Navarro in the quarterfinals — before Li took the second game of the second set to end the run.
Maria Sharapova, who pulled out of this Open with a shoulder injury and has been Williams’ other chief challenger for Majors in recent years, has proven utterly incapable of beating Serena. Williams is 14-2 against Sharapova and hasn’t beaten her in nine years.
Williams is 12-3 all-time against Azarenka, including a 7-0 mark in the Majors. Still, Azarenka doesn’t have the mental block against Serena that Sharapova does.
She can match Serena with concussive power from the baseline and has the mental fortitude to beat Williams.
Azarenka served for the US Open at 5-3 in the third set of last year’s final before Serena rebounded to win four straight games and the match.
“I feel like I’m a better player [since last year],” Azarenka said. “I’m a more complete player….
“I think all around, from the groundstrokes to movement to coming in to variety. I think all those little things are coming together. You know, paying a lot more details on how to create a bigger arsenal.”
This year, Azarenka has beaten Serena twice on outdoor hardcourts, handing Serena her last loss in the finals of Cincinnati last month, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6.
“Well, we always have really good matches,” Williams said after destroying Li Na, 6-0, 6-3,. “I look forward to it. It’s great to get to another final.
“She’s a great player and she lifts her game when it really counts so I think that’s what makes the difference.”
Still, Azarenka will have to play better Sunday than she did in the semis in order to have a shot against Serena.
Azarenka served up six double faults and was broken five times against Pennetta.
She will have to elevate her game against Serena if she is going to have any chance of slowing Serena’s roll.
And her seemingly inevitable march up the all-time Grand Slam list.
