World number two Victoria Azarenka has said that she believes her rivalry with American tennis star Serena Williams is making her a better player and is looking forward to renewing it over the next four weeks at the Brisbane International and the Australian Open.
The Belarussian, who has won the Australian Open for the last two years, will meet the 17-times major champion, against whom she has a 3-13 record, only if both players make the final at the Pat Rafter arena next weekend and Melbourne Park on Jan 25.
According to Sport24, Azarenka said that she thinks it is good to be a part of a rivalry as it helps a player to grow both professionally and personally, adding that it also helps the player to learn more thinks about himself/herself and what they need to improve in order to rise up.
Azarenka will open her new season in the second round of the Brisbane International against local wild card Casey Dellacqua, who beat Kazakh Galina Voskoboeva 3-6 6-2 6-3 in the first round on Monday, the report added.