Victoria Azarenka insists she can topple Serena Williams from her perch despite slumping to an eighth defeat in eight Grand Slam meetings against the 17-time major champion.

For the second year in succession, the 24-year-old world No 2 came up short in the US Open final against the veteran American, losing another three-setter in the longest women's final in more than 30 years.

The defeat took her career record against the world No 1 to 3-13.

But Azarenka was trying to take the smallest comfort from those statistics with two of those wins coming this year in the Doha and Cincinnati finals after a four-year drought.

"I don't think there was much of a difference today or Cincinnati. I think the quality of the game and the quality of determination was the same," Azarenka said on Sunday after her 7-5, 6-7 (6), 6-1 loss.

"I think overall the match from last year is a different story. It showed maybe not a different Serena, but it showed a different me as a player. And I felt that way.

"So I think that it's important to just try to go for those chances. I can't wait for the next chance."

(China Daily 09/11/2013 page23)