By Chris Oddo

(October 6, 2012) --  Sunday’s final in Beijing is the eleventh meeting between Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka, and the third in which the two players will compete at the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked players in the world.

Here’s some other interesting number nuggets about the rivalry to chew on before the final:

61: Lowest ranking held by either player in any of their 10 previous meetings. Sharapova was ranked 61 when she defeated a No. 9-ranked Azarenka in three sets in Los Angeles in 2009.

8.2 Million: Number of Facebook likes for Maria Sharapova. There is no rivalry between Sharapova and Azarenka when it comes to Facebook. The Belarusian, who prefers -- and excels at -- Twitter, has a paltry 142k likes to her name.

$6,068,920: Prize money, in dollars, that Victoria Azarenka has earned in 2012. With a win in the final she will break Serena Williams all-time record for a single season in prize money, which was set in 2009 when Williams earned $6,545,586.

Sharapova, who has earned $21,637,623 over the course of her career, is ranked No. 6 on the WTA’s all-time list, while Azarenka is ranked No. 13.

0: Number of sets that each player has dropped thus far in Beijing

41: Combined number of games that each player has dropped in Beijing. Sharapova has lost 20 while Azarenka has lost 21. (Even more remarkably, Azarenka has won 21 of 34 return games this week)

3: Number of tiebreaks that the pair have contested in their 10 previous matches. Azarenka has won all three, and they have no played a tiebreaker since 2009 in Beijing (Sharapova won the match in three sets after losing the second-set tiebreaker -- it was their only previous meeting in Beijing).

6-4: Azarenka’s head-to-head record vs. Sharapova

5-2: Azarenka’s head-to-head record against Sharapova on hard courts. The World No. 1 has won the last five meetings on the surface.

12’ 2”: Combined height of the long-legged pair. Sharapova is 6'2" while Azarenka is 6' even.

25-2: Combined -- and awesome -- three-set record of Sharapova and Azarenka in 2012. Each suffered their first three-set loss of the season at the 2012 U.S. Open. Azarenka defeated Sharapova in three sets in the semifinals and Serena Williams defeated Azarenka in three sets in the final.

(Photo Credit: Mark Corleve)