Azarenka crushes Kuznetsova

KEY BISCAYNE — Longtime WTA pro Svetlana Kuznetsova may have been on the opposite side of the net in Saturday’s Miami Open final, but a resurgent Victoria Azarenka seemed to be focused on several other obstacles blocking her path back to the top of women’s tennis.

Besides the scorching sun that made serving from the southeast side of the court torturous, Azarenka said her toughest opponents are herself and a slumping Serena Williams, who she fully expects to supplant as the No. 1 player in the world as she did in 2012 when the 26-year-old Belarusian was healthy.

First things first. In an aes- thetically lacking final filled with 40 unforced errors and which eight of the nine games in a sloppy first set ended in service breaks, a less than sharp Azarenka easily disposed of Kuznetsova, 6-3, 6-2 to win her third title in a packed Crandon Park Tennis Center.

Azarenka, the 13th seed, also completed the challenging Sunshine Double by winning Indian Wells (Calif.) and Miami this month to join tennis greats Kim Clijsters (2005) and Steffi Graf (1994, ’96).

“I think my biggest opponent always is myself, because I think when you go on the court … the way you’re going to hit your shots is always up to you,” said Azarenka, who will move from No. 8 in the rankings to No. 5 on Monday. “So I try to focus on what I should do better, not really watch what she’s going to do, because I have my game plan and I focus on my execution.”

The 15th-seeded Kuznetsova, who stunned Williams, an eight-time champion here, in the round of 16, admitted that both players seemed drained and left their ‘A’ games in their hotel rooms.

Azarenka believes the 34-year-old Williams — who lost to Azarenka in the Indian Wells’ final and has been knocked out in the U.S. Open semifinal by unheralded Roberta Vinci and the 2016 Australian Open final by Angelique Kerber — is catchable.