[Xepher]

On Grass, Martha. Azarenka on other surfaces.

[pov]

Based on their peaks so far - Sharapova. When she could rely on her serve and she had more consistency she'd take it.

[vozas]

Maria, easily. Watch any match from the AO Open and imagine Azarenka instead of Henin or Jankovic. Maria was actually winning most of the long rallies.

Btw, that Moscow match is irrelevant. Watch the highlights from that match; I can only imagine the amount of UEs Maria made, 'cause she was owning Victoria with her FH. The highlights reel has like 2 winners from Azarenka or smth.

[Joelina]

Maria easily

and i agree with the statement, that Maria reached her peak at 20 (Azarenka was older reaching her peak), maybe earlier and no one can know now if she wouldn´t be better

[SoClose]

Excluding the fact Im a Pova fan , I would say that Vika is not that type of players who would trouble Maria at her best . At their best Maria just does everything better than Vika ( expect volleys).

[Kworb]

Peak Maria 6-3 6-2. People forget what a great serve she used to have and how she would just paint the lines with her fantastic groundstrokes, rather than this hopeless bashing through the middle. Azarenka can't deal with accurate angles, she has to run too much to defend against it. That's why when Serena plays well Azarenka can't do anything. A peak Maria would do the same to Azarenka.

[pov]

Originally Posted by allhailwilliams

i dont see maria ever winning another slam. if maria cannot win without, the williams, kimmie, and henin playing on tour..., she wont ever win. maria to be honest, cannot beat the second tier players.., kerber, rowanska, and most of the europeans and american scrapers pick=ems... maria is the weakest "2 ever and it's really sad. her serve is the least of her problems. her biggest problem is movement...lilly white gal is no athlete, all she does is try to hit it hard and harder.

I'd argue but there is no single point that makes enough sense to go there and your last sentence pretty much seals the deal.

[Utterchaos]

Sharapova is a ballbasher, so it's always tough to beat her when she's on. Azarenka would beat peak Sharapova more often than

[Monzanator]

Originally Posted by Bradbury

In 2007, an 18 year old Azarenka straight stetted Sharapova just weeks before Maria went on to reach the YEC finals, and only a couple of months before Maria's AO 2008 run. And all of this in Sharapova's home tournament too.

Maria was battling a chronic shoulder injury back then and Kremlin Cup was her first and only event she played after US Open until YEC. That loss to Azarenka is not exactly representative as happening during Peak Sharapova period

[Adal]

If we take 2008 AO Maria, she would win this pretty easily.

[RenaSlam.]

Sharapova, the serve was better pre-injury.

[abi]

Ahhhh, the good old days that we can only reminiscence.
Now whenever Maria got outplayed, Peak Pova has to pop up to console our pain.

[justineheninfan]

If one is talking about who is the better player, at this point of Azarenka's "peak" which could still go alot higher as far as level of play potentially, peak Maria is easily better. Azarenka even as she currently is would never beat prime Serena and peak Henin in easy straight sets in slam finals as Maria did. Her level is good enough to dominate for the time being the abysmal WTA, and I am so glad someone has emerged to do that, but wouldnt be so formidable even half a decade ago. However if we are talking a head to head matchup between the two, Azarenka is a nightmare matchup for Maria, so it is harder to say. I think in a head to head Azarenka wins on slower surfaces and Sharapova on faster ones.

[Craig.]

Originally Posted by justineheninfan

If one is talking about who is the better player, at this point of Azarenka's "peak" which could still go alot higher as far as level of play potentially, peak Maria is easily better. Azarenka even as she currently is would never beat prime Serena and peak Henin in easy straight sets in slam finals as Maria did. Her level is good enough to dominate for the time being the abysmal WTA, and I am so glad someone has emerged to do that, but wouldnt be so formidable even half a decade ago. However if we are talking a head to head matchup between the two, Azarenka is a nightmare matchup for Maria, so it is harder to say. I think in a head to head Azarenka wins on slower surfaces and Sharapova on faster ones.

All of this.

[Lucemferre]

It's hard for me to accept anyone from this era as better than peak Sharapova even though peak Sharapova is somewhat overrated. She beat Serena and Henin in major finals and that to me is worth more than anything Azarenka has done so far. Despite her great run I'm not convinced because the competition is not even close. Vika can't even beat her only rival, KvittyGOAT.