Warming Up for Australian Open, Williams Beats Azarenka BRISBANE, Australia - Serena Williams began this season in the same pose she ended the last: her right heel lifted slightly off the ground, her arms high over her head, her hands grasping yet another trophy. Williams, who won a career-high 11 titles last year, picked up the first of 2014 on Saturday with a 6-4, 7-5 win over second-ranked Victoria Azarenka in the final of the Brisbane International. It was the 11th time since the start of 2012 that the top two players in the WTA rankings had faced each other, with Williams winning nine of those matches. The match started with surprisingly few break points. There was only one in the first set, converted by Williams in the seventh game. In the second set, Azarenka broke Williams twice and took a 4-2 lead before Williams broke back with an emphatic overhead smash, and later with a backhand scorched down the line for a 6-5 lead. Williams served out the match with her most purposeful serving of the night, and screamed in delight when Azarenka's final return fell wide. After the two shook hands, Williams waved to the crowd and twirled with an index finger raised, signifying her place in the game. The title, the 58th of her professional career, made Williams a prohibitive favorite for the Australian Open, the year's first Grand Slam tournament, which begins Jan. 13. Williams's straight-set victories over Azarenka and over fourth-ranked Maria Sharapova in the semifinals improved her combined record against them to 30-5. "It was a great test," Williams said of her week in Brisbane. It showed me where my level was, and I feel like I definitely have some room for improving and things that I want to improve on going into Melbourne, and things I have to improve on if I want to win. I'm happy I was able to play both Maria and Victoria, because they brought their A games against me. I know now what I need to do for Melbourne. I look forward to it. Williams, a five-time Australian Open champion, has not won the tournament since 2010. She was forced to miss the tournament in 2011 because of toe surgery, then lost in 2012 in the fourth round to Ekaterina Makarova while hobbled by an ankle injury. Her exit was similar last year, as she rolled her ankle during her first-round victory and aggravated the injury several times before eventually losing in the quarterfinals to Sloane Stephens. "Everything seems so far so good," Williams said of her ankles during this trip to Australia. Going to maybe have a little extra tape in Melbourne. Williams hopes to tape her ankles 13 times in Melbourne, as she plans to enter the doubles competition as well with her sister Venus. Ranked 47th, Venus also played in a singles final Saturday, in Auckland, New Zealand, where she lost in three sets to Ana Ivanovic after saving a match point in the second set. The doubles competition will keep Serena from playing mixed doubles. The Australian Open and French Open mixed doubles are the only two Grand Slam titles she has not won. Williams said she had considered asking Roger Federer, who will play the Brisbane men's singles final Sunday against Lleyton Hewitt, to be her partner, but ultimately family came first. "Even though I don't have the mixed title, I still would much rather play doubles than mixed," she said. It's my sister, it's fun, it's great. I love playing doubles. I'm pretty good at it. Williams is remarkably good at singles. Coming off a 78-4 season in 2013, she left Brisbane with a 22-match winning streak. LI WINS ALL-CHINESE FINAL Top-seeded Li Na defended her Shenzhen Open title by defeating Peng Shuai, 6-4, 7-5, in only the second all-Chinese final on the WTA Tour. Li captured her eighth career WTA title and first since winning in Shenzhen, China, last year. Peng is winless in six finals. The No. 3-ranked Li is hoping to build momentum heading into the Australian Open, where she has reached the final in two of the last three years. She lost to Victoria Azarenka in last year's final and fell to Kim Clijsters in 2011. Li retired against Zheng Jie at the Estoril Open in 2006, in the only other WTA Tour final between Chinese players. (AP) NADAL TAKES QATAR TITLE Rafael Nadal won his first title of the year by defeating Gael Monfils, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-2, in an exciting, nearly two-hour final at the Qatar Open in Doha. Nadal dominated the first set, taking it in just 23 minutes. Monfils settled into the match in the second set, initially taking a 3-0 lead. Although Nadal recouped the service break in the seventh game when Monfils netted a backhand, he could not win the tiebreaker. In the third set, Nadal broke Monfils in the fourth game, and capped his win by breaking serve again on a second match point when Monfils sent a forehand long. CHENNAI FINAL IS SET Stanislas Wawrinka and Edouard Roger-Vasselin registered hard-fought wins to set up the final of the Chennai Open in India. Against the top-seeded Wawrinka, a resurgent Vasek Pospisil conceded their semifinal at 6-4, 5-5 because of a back strain. Roger-Vasselin defeated Marcel Granollers, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Wawrinka was surprised when the fifth-seeded Pospisil withdrew despite having found a rhythm after some unforced errors at critical junctures.