Azarenka brushes aside Kerber for Brisbane crown

BRISBANE: Victoria Azarenka displayed the form that could lead her to a hat trick of Australian Open titles this month by brushing aside German fourth seed Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-1 in the Brisbane International final on Saturday.
The former world No. 1 has been plagued by injury over the last two years but, now ranked 22nd, she showed little sign of rust on her way to a second Brisbane crown.
The Belarusian dropped 17 games over five matches during the tournament to claim her first title since the Cincinnati Masters in August 2013.
The 26-year-old, who won her maiden Brisbane title in 2009, took control of the match against world No. 10 Kerber after an early trade of breaks and peppered the court with her powerful groundstrokes.
"I'm not sure I feel relief," Azarenka told reporters. "I wanted to win the title, but I didn't feel, if this doesn't happen the world is going to end.
"I just feel really excited and happy that I'm doing the right things. I'm excited to keep working hard.
"It just gives extra motivation to keep working hard and achieve better things."
Kerber, the highest seed left after the withdrawals of Maria Sharapova, Simona Halep and Garbine Muguruza, had three break points in the opening game of the second set but once Azarenka fended them off, she did not look back.
"I don't know, but for me it's always tough to play against her," Kerber said after her sixth loss against Azarenka.
"I hope one day will come where I can beat her.
"Vika was the better player today, that's all that I can say."
Azarenka won back-to-back Australian Open titles in 2012 and 2013 and has reached the US Open final twice, losing both to world number one Serena Williams.

Radwanska takes Riske for easy Shenzhen triumph
Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska celebrated her rise to the top four of the world rankings with a 6-3, 6-2 thumping of Alison Riske in the Shenzhen Open final on Saturday, her 18th WTA career title.
Radwanska had ensured she will replace Russian world number four Maria Sharapova in Monday's rankings by reaching the final of the tournament in China and backed that up with a routine victory over her American opponent.
"I think Alison was really playing solid tennis today," Radwanska told reporters. "She has a very powerful game from the baseline -- I was really struggling from the baseline.
"I was really in a lot of trouble there.
"But my serve really helped me today. Also, in the deciding points, I was a little bit better and I think that's why the score was the way it was -- it made it look easier than the actual match was."
The Pole did not drop a set in her run to the title and Saturday's triumph will increase her confidence ahead of the Australian Open, which gets underway in Melbourne on Jan. 18, after a spectacular end to last season.
Radwanska showed steady improvement throughout 2015, winning titles in Tokyo and Tianjin before she claimed her first WTA Finals championship in Singapore last November when she overcame Petra Kvitova in three sets.
The former world number two will now head to Sydney for her final warmup before the first grand slam of the season.
"It's the beginning of the year, so we're all fresh compared to the end of the year. I'm feeling good," the 26-year-old added.
"Also I have a bye there (Sydney), so I'll have a couple of days off right now."