Just when you thought Li is playing well, she reverts back to her erroneous ways and flops badly in front of her home crowd. It wasn't as though Sharapova played brilliantly as well. Maria only made 8 winners in this whole match. Goes to show how bad Li must have been playing. The Chinese is bound to get another round of hammering from her fans as she exits her home tournament in the worst possible way. Sharapova will now face Azarenka, and will try to win her first hardcourt title of the season.
Victoria Azarenka def. Marion Bartoli 6-4 6-2
No upsets here as Marion falls easily to Victoria Azarenka. Victoria wasn't playing well but Marion was pretty dire as well. Even though Azarenka was shaking in her service games, Marion was far worse as she was broken countless times. It seems that Bartoli will forever remain as a player who will always loiter in the lower part of the top 10 but never breakthrough. Azarenka heads to yet another final and will be favoured to win her first title since Indian Wells.
Beijing final:
Maria Sharapova vs Victoria Azarenka
No surprises here as the top 2 seeds meet in the finals. Both have relatively straightforward routes to the finals but Sharapova impressed with quality wins over Kerber and Li. Azarenka is her normal consistent self and will be the favourite going into the final, having won their last few hard court outings. However, Sharapova seems to have picked up a notch in this tournament, demolishing her last 2 opponents with bagels. Can Sharapova finally solve the Azarenka mystery? Or will Victoria continue her dominance over Sharapova on hard courts? I believe Sharapova is primed for a hard court title and she looks to be peaking at the right time. I am going to go with the upset here and pick Maria for the win.
Pick: Sharapova in 3 sets
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