Madrid Memories: Serena Williams and her favorite 'victim'

Serena Williams won the Mutua Madrid Open for two consecutive years since the tournament became a WTA/ATP combined event (the women's tournament was born in 2009, with the reform, when it was played in May and on clay).

In 2012 Serena won her first title at Caja Magica, beating Victoria Azarenka in two sets with the final score of 6-1 6-3. In those years Serena seemed invincible: she was probably experiencing the best period of her extraordinary career, and in the 2012-2013 two-years-period she had a strong rivalry with Belarus.

In 2013 she played the final of the tournament again, this time against her favorite victim, her rival Maria Sharapova. Serena won 6-1, 6-4. Like many other times it happened in the past (and as it happened in the future), Sharapova couldn't find an antidote to the biggest problem of her fantastic career: Serena Williams.

The Russian, for the umpteenth time, suffered against her historical rival, failing to find the right technical, tactical and mental measures, and lost once again. Sharapova retired from tennis a few weeks ago, and perhaps her biggest career failure is precisely the many matches lost against Serena (in their head-to-head, Williams lead 20-2).

A curiosity: Serena Williams won the only edition of the tournament on blue clay, in 2012.

This is one of the memories of past days as the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the season's suspension over time. The tournament will not be relocated this season, but it will be played directly in 2021, not following the line of other events such as the French Open that have been rescheduled for the second half of 2020, after the US Open. 

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2VahGNn