2016 Brisbane International: Victoria Azarenka takes second title beating Angelique Kerber in the finals

Victoria Azarenka claimed her second Brisbane International title on Saturday. Azarenka stunned fourth seed Angelique Kerber in straight sets 6-3 6-1.

The Belarusian tennis star, who beat Marion Bartoli in Brisbane finals in 2009, claimed her first title after almost two and a half years. It was her 18^th WTA title overall. The last time that Azarenka won a title was in 2013. She defeated Serena Williams 2-6 6-2 7-6 (6) in the finals in Cincinnati.

Azarenka fired 23 winners and committed only nine unforced errors compared to her opponent's 25 and 25. Azarenka further improved her head-to-head record 6-0 against the 10^th-ranked German.

Speaking after the match as reported by WTATennis.com, Azarenka passed on good wishes to Kerber. She thanked the German for pushing and said that she hopes to play more matches against her in the future.

“Congratulations to Angelique and thank you for pushing me, you always push my limits,” Azarenka said. “I hope we get to play more matches soon and good luck for the rest of the year.”

Kerber also congratulated the former World No.1 Belarusian. Kerber said that she hopes that Azarenka will give her a chance to win in their future clashes.

Azarenka finished as World No. 1 in 2012 and as World No. 2 in 2013. However, she plummeted in the world rankings after suffering a series of injuries in 2014 and 2015. Azarenka currently ranks at the 22^nd spot. She now heads to Melbourne Park at the 2016 Australian Open where she is a two-time champion.

Meanwhile. top-ranked doubles specialists Sania Mirzaand Martina Hingis continued strong start this season with victory over Andrea Petkovic and Kerber in the women's doubles event finals on Pat Rafter Arena 7-5 6-1. The pair beat the Germans in a little over an hour to claim their first title in 2016.