KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. — Victoria Azarenka believes she’s the best player in women’s tennis, and recent results support her argument.
Seeded 13th, Azarenka completed a rare Indian Wells-Key Biscayne double Saturday by beating Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-2 to win the Miami Open.
Azarenka, a two-time Grand Slam champion mounting a comeback from injuries, defeated Serena Williams in the Indian Wells final two weeks ago. She’s only the third woman to win both tournaments in the same year, and the first since Kim Clijsters in 2005.
Steffi Graf did it in 1994 and 1996.
“It’s an honor to stand next to those amazing champions,” Azarenka said during the trophy ceremony. “This just gives me even more inspiration and motivation to keep working harder, because this feels great.”
Before the final, Azarenka was asked if she’s the best player in the world.
“I wouldn’t go out there and kill myself every day if I didn’t feel like that,” she said.
Novak Djokovic tries for a record-tying sixth Key Biscayne title when he plays Kei Nishikori on Sunday.
Azarenka swept every set in her six matches to earn her third Key Biscayne title and her first since 2011. A former No. 1 player, she fell out of the top 30 in 2014 because of foot and thigh injuries, but will be back in the top five next week.
Kuznetsova endeared herself to Miami’s many Latin fans by speaking Spanish during the trophy ceremony. She then switched to English.
“I would like to congratulate Victoria for doing such an amazing job this year and these four weeks,” Kuznetsova said.
Azarenka improved to 22-1 in 2016, with the lone loss to Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open.
The No. 15-seeded Kuznetsova beat eight-time champion Williams in the fourth round, but that match was one of four consecutive three-setters for the Russian, and she appeared weary in the final.
Both players were inconsistent with their strokes, and there was a break of serve in eight of the first nine games. Azarenka became so annoyed she kicked one stray ball over the net and whacked another into the 10th row, with the latter transgression earning her a code violation.
But she managed the lone hold in the opening set, and her play then became steadier. That left Kuznetsova doing most of the running on a sunny, 88-degree afternoon. Her fatigue showed in the final game, when she staggered under an overhead and netted it.
Kuznetsova held serve only twice. She hit just eight winners to 23 for Azarenka.
The tennis season now switches from hardcourt to clay — not Azarenka’s best surface. She has never reached the French Open final in nine tries.
“I think my game is pretty well suited to clay,” she said. “I need to work on sliding and a little bit more patience, but I’m very excited.”
