Victoria Azarenka had her very strong match since returning to the sport at the Wimbledon Championships Friday. The two time semifinalist went the distance with Heather Watson to win the match 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 on Center Court at the All England Tennis Club. The Belorussian had 31 winners and kept the unforced errors to a minimum in just her fifth match overall this season.
The two met three years ago in Montreal where the former number took down Watson for a fourth time in straight sets. The return of Azarenka remains as a test for the new mother and current 683 ranked tennis star. With her win over Russian powerhouse Elena Vesnina the path of players continues to be a reminder of her historic successes. Watson has also been on a run taking down her last two opponents in straight sets. With the home advantage leaning her way, the 25-year-old has a big obstacle in her way in order to make the round of 16.
The nerves were heavy in the hands of Azarenka who had trouble with the forehand and returning on the serve of the Brit. It led to a 2-0 run for the Brit who quickly soaked the energy from the home crowd. Another solid service in the third had the former number one concerned about her level of focus playing on center court while dealing with the warm weather. She regrouped and found a way to get on the board but as the set went along, Watson remained on point landing winners and already had two aces.
The feat was heavy for Azarenka but in the sixth, the 27-year-old dug in deep to race to the line with 40-30 with her second ace. Watson forced deuce with a shot that Azarenka erred on the forehand. She recovered after two breaks to seal the win on serve and consolidated it further. The former number one got better and better proving it with a huge triple break that broke down the Brit and sat a game down going into the eighth.
The pressure was on Azarenka who soon found herself on the edge with Watson serving at 5-3. The Jersey native was in great control making the serves very difficult for the Belorussian to act. Though her responses were on court, the backhand was the main problem on her second serve and the ultimate demise of her regaining a foot in the set. Watson took the victory in 34 minutes having served 70 percent of points across court and only had four unforced errors through nine games.
The second set went a little differently as the Belorussian found her footing to handle the 25-year-old. Mistakes were also a fact with Watson’s forehand which in turn frustrated the Brit to the point of showing her level on court. The world 102 attempted to dig in but continued to falter giving Azarenka a three-game winning streak. An important hold for the 25-year-old resulted in a force of deuce against the former number one who couldn’t hold back Watson thereby ending her run of dominance.
It was only brief as the 27-year-old got back to service in the fifth where the ground strokes took their role in attacking the forehand of Watson. The Brit rallied back to deuce but a lob return near the net fell just long of the line giving Azarenka the advantage. She picked up her fifth double fault that added a second chance for Watson but she never got a chance to counter. Azarenka regained her three-game lead on Watson scoring game point on an 11-shot rally.
The sixth was Watson’s biggest fight of the set but as her effort showed when fighting to force deuce, it all came to a devastating end for the 25-year-old. In the third break, Azarenka took control and won game point on a ball off the top of the net and dropped into Watson’s court unable to get to it in time. The huge break for Azarenka gave her a chance to serve it out in the seventh and did so with a shot that Watson lost on another forehand error ending 38 minutes and a push to the third set.
Both had their ups and downs as control was the main mission of both players going into the final set. Consistency did not play a role in the first six games as they both traded off wins to one another making it difficult to be the sole player in charge. Watson made it her intention to lead the way on the score only to see Azarenka answer to level the scoreboard.
The seventh took on a role of its own as the two went to deuce and played several breaks making it the longest game of the match. Each had their chances to end it in their favor but a critical error always came into play to give the other player life. It was on the sixth break where Watson began to hit safe shots to Azarenka to the point where one didn’t get over the net. The error gave the Belorussian the 4-3 lead after ten minutes being played in the game.
Despite the high amount of energy that was put into the previous game, Watson was still alive to give it all she had to stay competitive. The eighth was her pinnacle point of breaking Azarenka and with good movement to the ball and placement, she managed to level back and get closer to the ultimate goal. A 16 shot rally in the ninth set Azarenka up for break point who set up a good redirect on a short rally to take the big 5-4 run and serve for the match.
Just when it looked like she took a lot out of Watson, the opposite occurred for the 25-year-old. Big answers on the part of the Brit allowed her to gain a chance for break point but a bad response on the serve of Azarenka sent things to deuce. An even worse moment came when Watson tried to challenge but the umpire denied her saying she wasn’t verbal enough on asking for one. Her day came to an end as a ball just long of the baseline gave the former number one a spot back in the fourth round completing two hours and five minutes and only looked to get better.
“It definitely was not an easy match,” Azarenka said after the match about her opponent. “She’s the crowd favorite and I feel like she plays really inspired here and started well. The whole match I felt like I was on my back foot and then I started to step in a little bit more, but I’m happy that I stayed tough in the important moment and took my opportunities.”
Opportunities for improvement will be to her advantage and she’ll take on the winner between Simona Halep and Shuai Peng on Monday.
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