Sports Thread #1 For 10/27/11: 2011 BNP Paribas WTA Championships, Day 3 (Azarenka d. Li)

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The minute Caroline Wozniacki got off to a third straight poor start, she was going to be in trouble, especially when she allowed her latest slip outside the gate to the indoor ace that is Petra Kvitova.

No one is playing better under a roof in 2011 than the Czech sensation, as Kvitova scored another class victory.

Photo from Getty Images

Stability is everything for a baseline tennis player. And it is a key aspect that Victoria Azarenka has at the moment while Na Li certainly is in a desperate search for.

That was evident from the first point today as the Belorussian confirmed herself as clearly the best player in the White Group, with a 6-2, 6-2 comfortable victory over her Chinese counterpart.

It wasn't a thrashing or a beatdown at all, as Li showed at times why she has a 4-1 record over Azarenka by having more power in her strokes and not getting overwhelmed by Azarenka's aggressive persistence. The only major problem Li can have against Azarenka is a lack of consistency from the ground, and that is currently what the French Open champion is dealing with.

Azarenka gives herself the best chance to win points better than anyone in the WTA at the moment. Despite still not possessing a serve that could win points consistently with an ace or a one-two combination, Azarenka can placed herself in auspicious position in points with decent placement on her first and second serve. "Decent" would be an utter insult to how terrific Azarenka's efficiency was on 1st serve throughout this match, missing just three serves in the first and finishing with 80% overall for the match.

But that also shows how Na Li lacked the ability today to place questions on Azarenka like she has done in most of their meetings, especially at both the Australian and French this year in straight sets victories. Her up and down forehand was mostly down in this match. And the capriciousness of that stroke at the moment brings everything else down in her game.

Li made 37 errors yesterday, but was fortunate that her mental advantage over Maria Sharapova made the Russian more unstable and reckless than her for the 7-6 (4), 6-4 tussle of a win. Today, she simply met a better, more discipline and more relaxed opponent who wouldn't shoot herself in the foot and always fixated on the right shot. That caused Li to make 39 more errors today despite playing seven less games.

Again, Victoria Azarenka isn't playing overwhelming, out of this mind tennis that Petra Kvitova is capable of playing against the best of the best. But she is playing the sound, shrewd tennis of reliable execution that the rest of her colleagues in Istanbul don't have as much as she has at present time.

And it's that tennis that Na Li hopes will automatically come out of nowhere in the match that will decide who goes with Azarenka in the group to the semifinals tomorrow against Sam Stosur. Then again, with her winless record against the Australian, the likely bet will be that her search for stability will have to continue into the offseason.