Victoria Azarenka beats out Li Na to win Australian Open
Belarus’s Victoria Azarenka poses with the trophy after victory in her women’s singles final against Li Na of China on day thirteen of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 26, 2013.
Victoria Azarenka of Belarus beat out China's Li Na to win the Australian Open for a second consecutive year.
Azarenka won five of her six games, and made it through a final match interrupted by Australia Day fireworks and several medical time outs to win it 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, ESPN reported.
Li, who had upset two top-five players to make it to the final match, rolled her ankle twice and hit her head on the court, further earning the crowd's support, according to Sports Illustrated.
"I started laughing, thinking 'This is a tennis court, not like a hospital,'" Li said after the match.
Azarenka also used a time out, which she was heavily criticized for, though it was reportedly to regain her breath from a rib injury, Sports Illustrated reported.
"Unfortunately, you have to go through some rough patches to achieve great things. That's what makes it so special for me," Azarenka said after claiming her prize, USA Today reported. "I went through that, and I'm still able to kiss that beautiful trophy."
The Belarusian tennis player's win also seats her comfortably in the World Champion spot; had Li won, Serena Williams would have clinched that honor, the Australian reported.
There's just one small problem: the engraving on her trophy, "BEL," stands for Belgium, not Belarus, USA Today reported. Guess you can't get it all right?
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