US Open Tennis 2012: Everything You Need to Know About the Women's Final

The 2012 U.S. Open women's final is all set, and it will pit Serena Williams against Victoria Azarenka for the last major of the 2012 season.

Let's take a look at when and where to watch this exciting final match, while examining how each woman got to where she is and how each has fared in past matchups with the other.

How to Watch

Where: Arthur Ashe Stadium, Flushing, New York

When: Saturday, September 8 at 8:00 p.m. EDT

Watch: CBS (Check local listings)

Live Stream: USOpen.org

How They Got Here

Williams has easily been the hottest women's tennis player in the world in 2012, and it comes as no surprise that she made it to the U.S. Open final.

Serena has yet to drop a single set during her march to the final and has made it look easy getting here. In her semifinal match with Sara Errani, Williams once again cruised to victory, and it's quite clear that, up until this point, she's yet to meet her match.

Azarenka's year hasn't been anywhere near as successful as Williams' and so goes the same for her path to the final.

As the tournament has gotten to its later stages, Azarenka has seen increasingly tougher matches. Azarenka barely squeaked by in her quarterfinal match against Aussie Samantha Stosur in three sets and was equally challenged by Russian star Maria Sharapova. Azarenka was down a set to Sharapova, only to storm back to win the last two, which set up her final match with Williams.

There's no doubt that Williams has had a much easier time getting to the same place as Azarenka.

Williams vs. Azarenka Head-to-Head History

In 2009, Azarenka topped Williams in Miami in a match that was won in straight sets, 6-3 and 6-1. Azarenka's victory in that match is the only one that she possesses over Williams.

In 10 total matchups, Williams has been the victor in nine of them, exhibiting total dominance over Azarenka. Six of those wins were in majors, three at the Australian Open, two at Wimbledon and one at the U.S. Open.

Most recently, Williams crushed Azarenka in the Olympics by cruising to a straight sets victory.

No matter the surface, hard court included, Williams has had incredible and undeniable success against Azarenka in their respective careers.

Prediction

You can't argue with history, and in that case, Williams has a huge advantage over Azarenka.

On top of that, nobody is playing better tennis than Serena at the moment, and her stellar play will be too much for Azarenka, who has proven to have a ton of trouble with some of the lesser stars in tennis during this year's U.S. Open.

Winner: Williams over Azarenka in straight sets, 6-1 and 6-2.