Victoria Azarenka had a tough night on court but somehow pulled off the win before Friday morning at the BNP Paribas Open. Her 6-4, 6-3 win at Stadium One against Heather Watson
gave her a win in 2018 after coming back to the sport since July 2017. The two sets on court had dramatic moments that led to lengthy service games but a result in the end.
This was their seventh meeting with the series leaning heavily in the Belorussian’s favor. In her last tournament at Wimbledon, Azarenka battled Diyas in a three setter to win her third round. It was her second to last match played last season and due to personal reasons has been away from action. Watson would have a difficulty on her hands as usual but the pressure would be against the former number one as she had a lot riding on performing well.
She came out with the hold despite seeing some tactics from the Brit who had good returns but not enough to get the opening break. Watson attempted to control her offense adding a couple of drop shots but fell flat giving Azarenka a 2-0 lead. Despite some errors in the third, she stopped Watson from opening the door herself and slammed it shut winning the AD point. Watson took a chat with coach Morgan Phillips who told her to bring some points to go her way and execute on her offense.
It did not come in the fourth either as mistakes let Azarenka win easy points that had her struggling to keep in it. She fought on deuce where after the second break, a win came to the Brits hands ending the shutout on court. The two were back on serve through five with the Belorussian inching her way to taking a hold of the set. it as 5-1 for the former number one as Watson’s errors were getting out of hand. She committed a dozen by the sixth game that it looked hopeless of her recovering from the issues.
A break to love was the save Watson needed as Azarenka’s game vanished in the seventh. The 25-year-old tried getting a grip on her offense for a moment to gain another win. The comeback looked very possible as the Brit earning another victory on the break put her a game down of the 28-year-old. A couple of errors in the tenth game allowed Azarenka some breathing room to focus on her returns against the Brit who fell under pressure to end the set in 44 minutes. Both had double digit errors in their games with the second serve well under performing. Very little came from their returns leaving the game to be won on the first shot which the Belorussian did.
Skills on handling drop shots led Azarenka to victory in the opening game of the second set where she served to love against Watson. The win gave her a winning streak that saw her beating Watson whose errors were coming long of the baseline and off tempo. She somehow pulled out a win in the fourth ending Azarenka’s four game winning streak but watched as the 28-year-old held serve regaining a large margin.
The gap was cut to two games with the Brit holding Azarenka in the sixth not wanting to give in despite the late hour. She battled on deuce with the Belorussian that went more than four as the 28-year-old missed on two smash attempts. It allowed Watson to play better tennis but the fight for the AD point remained elusive. After 12 deuces and 18 minutes of action that saw the two have a 24-shot rally, the 2016 champion gained the win that put Watson on the chopping block serving to extend the match. The Brit had match point saved with an error from Azarenka sending the game to deuce. After three breaks and three attempts for the Belorussian, the former number one got it done after 1 hour and 43 minutes finishing 15 minutes before midnight.
“it truly means the world to me to be able to be here and play and enjoy myself doing what I love to do,” Azarenka said to Andrew Krasny after the match. With the win under her belt, she’ll prepare for her second-round match against reigning US Open champion Sloane Stephens on Saturday.
No comments:
Post a Comment