Skip to footer

Victoria Azarenka to face Serena Williams in Bangkok, Brisbane

Victoria Azarenka, the world's No. 2 ranked female tennis player, will face world champion Serena Williams in an exhibition match in Bangkok, followed by the real thing at the Brisbane International, in preparation for the Australian Open.

|
Osman Orsal/Reuters
Victoria Azarenka of Belarus hits a return to Li Na of China during their WTA tennis championships match at Sinan Erdem Dome in Istanbul, October 25.
  • By Associated Press

| Bangkok; Brisbane, Australia

Serena Williams will play Victoria Azarenka in an exhibition match in Thailand next month in a clash of the world's top two female players.

The Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand announced on Thursday that the match will be part of the regular invitational event in Hua Hin, a popular holiday destination southwest of Bangkok.

Ms. Azarenka has twice played exhibitions matches there, while this will be Ms. Williams' first appearance at the event.

Williams will also be defending her title against Azarenka at next month's Brisbane International, among a powerful women's field in preparation for the Australian Open.

Williams' opponents at the Dec. 29 to Jan. 5 Brisbane tournament will include six of the world's top-10 players. The field announced Thursday includes Azarenka — the 2009 champion — Maria Sharapova, Jelena Jankovic, Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki.

The men's field is headlined by 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer, whose rivals include top-20 players Kei Nishikori of Japan, Gilles Simon of France and Kevin Anderson of South Africa.

Tournament director Cameron Pearson said "to have Roger Federer and Serena Williams headline the event is a remarkable result and testament to the high regard the players have for the tournament."

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Victoria Azarenka to face Serena Williams in Bangkok, Brisbane
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Latest-News-Wires/2013/1129/Victoria-Azarenka-to-face-Serena-Williams-in-Bangkok-Brisbane
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe