Vika Draws the Ire of Serena During Victory

Was Victoria Azarenka out of line when she got under the skin of Serena Williams during Sunday's title match in Doha?

By Chris Oddo

(February 17, 2013) -- The good news for Victoria Azarenka is that she can't seem to lose this year. The bad news for Victoria Azarenka is that she can't seem to win without offending a whole bunch of people.

The two-time Grand Slam champion's latest egregious (or harmless, depending upon your perspective) offense drew the ire of Serena Williams during their hard-fought, three-set title match in Doha today. After being delayed while serving on several occasions by Azarenka's raised racquet (see pic above for exact posture), Williams pleaded to umpire Eva Asderaki during the second set for some help.

Naturally, the Twitterati had a thing or two to say about the developments.

Glad someone is complaining about returners making servers wait with that constant hand up. It's too much, Azarenka does it too much.
— Bobby Chintapalli (@bobbychin) February 17, 2013

Re Serena complaining about Azarenka raising hand: Vika does that all the time. To everyone. Interesting that Serena let it bother her. #wta
— Beyond The Baseline (@SI_BTBaseline) February 17, 2013

Serena said she wasn't playing that fast (and she's not), and knows rules say the returner (Vika) should stick to the server's pace. #wta
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) February 17, 2013

Luckily, for those who believe in the inalienable rights of the server to determine the pace of play in a tennis match, umpire Eva Asderaki promised Serena that she was "keeping an eye on things." Unluckily for those of us who believe in the inalienable rights of the server to determine pace of play in tennis, Asderaki didn't open her mouth while keeping an eye on it.

Serena complains to Asderaki that Vika is holding her hand up and making her wait to serve. Asderaki: "I'm keeping my eye on it."
— Steve Tignor (@SteveTignor) February 17, 2013

As far as controversies go, this is a mild one (especially when compared to Vika's 10-minute MTO in Melbourne last month). But we're curious to know what you think: Were Serena's complaints justified, and should something be done about this form of gamesmanship?