Qatar Open 2013: Serena v Vika in Final

At the Qatar Total Open semifinals in Doha, Serena Williams followed up her epic 3-set win over Petra Kvitova to reclaim the world #1 ranking for the 6th time in her career by demolishing World #3 Maria Sharapova 6-3 6-2 for the 10th consecutive time.

In the other semifinal, current World #1 Victoria Azarenka continued her domination over her frenemy Agnieska Radwanska with a 6-3 6-3 win for the 8th consecutive victory in their 12 career matches.

So the final will be between soon-to-be former World #1 Azarenka versus soon-to-be current World #1 Williams. The bad news for Azarenka is that she has only beaten Serena once in 12 meetings; however she did possess match points in their very tight match in the 2012 US Open final (won by Serena). Azarenka should take confidence from that fact, and the fact that she won the very last Grand Slam played and should use the opportunity to try out some new tactics against Serena, who may be vulnerable after having achieved her short-term goal of reach World #1 again.

That being said, I would be very surprised if Serena did not continue her unbeaten streak playing in Doha and win the title tomorrow, although I think it will be a pretty close match.