Azarenka wins three setter over Sevastova at Miami Open

Victoria Azarenka took another progressive step in the women’s draw at the Miami Open Saturday. Brushing off some trouble early in the match led her to find some composure winning 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 against Anastasija Sevastova on Court One at Crandon Park Tennis Center. The three-time champion of the tournament beat down the competition to run away with it and advance to the round of 16 next week.

A first-time meeting between the stars led to them both looking for further progress in the tournament. The world number 17 achieved her personal best beating Alize Cornet in straight sets Thursday. Azarenka pressed for her career to re spark did well so far with the win over Catherine Bellis and the early win over Madison Keys. While they both had different outlooks to their offense, the first strike and control would determine the fate of one of them advancing to the round of 16.

Sevastova got on the right track winning her opening service before breaking Azarenka for the lead. The Belorussian got on the board in the third getting in front of the 20^th seed for the second break of the set. Unforced errors began to climb for the Latvian who handed Azarenka an easy serve to love. Sevastova took over with the hold of serve and lead in the sixth making it very frustrating for Azarenka on court. Sevastova widened the gap taking a 5-2 as errors were coming frequently from the Belorussian making it difficult with returns on the rallies.

Despite all the issues with her game, she held in the eighth to stay alive but still had to deal with Sevastova being a strong competitor and on serve for the set. A good fight in the ninth saw the former number one force deuce with a challenged call that saw the ball land dead on the line leaving the opportunity open for another step in the right direction. Unfortunately, a wide return ended the hopes of the 28-year-old to bring an end to the set in 35 minutes.

Both had strong first serve percentages but the second was suffering for them both with Azarenka nailing just one point out of five tries. With that and her return game in the basement with 15 unforced errors in play, the need for a new set was just what the Belorussian needed. She came out with a service hold to start the second set and maintained her stance on offense through the third. Despite her second serve not coming together, Sevastova struggled to get her offense in gear since the set began.

Azarenka and Sevastova had high quality hitting in the fourth game that had them deep into deuce. While there was improvement from the Latvian, her inability to hold serve gave the 28-year-old the comfort she wanted on the scoreboard. With her offense reaching core strength, Azarenka pulled off a serve to love over Sevastova gaining a 4-1 hold with a third set likely on the horizon.

Sevastova cut the lead in half with a necessary hold to cut the gap but as soon as the former number one got the ball, she threatened the match to continue. The Latvian needed more options got one in the eighth but coming after her was the Belorussian with a shot to serve. She ran into some errors on the second serve that sent the two to deuce where avoiding set point was critical for the 27-year-old. Sevastova played a rally all over the court answering everything Azarenka had to lob one over the net and away from her reach.

The Belorussian avoided her opponent’s AD point that soon led them to fighting for the break or set point. After 12 minutes and 20 seconds, six breaks and four break point attempts, Sevastova was back in the hunt sitting a game down with her chance to tie the set at five all. The efforts she had in the previous game turned into a 40-0 march that soon took a slide.

Azarenka battled all the way back to force deuce in an attempt to get the set over and done with. She had two set points in the game but couldn’t get it locked down. She produced a third but watched her return go long. It was the fourth that made it possible for the Belorussian as an awkward moment during Sevastova’s return killed the set on a high fly ball that she swung and missed at. It took 61 minutes to complete the set where Sevastova’s second serve and return game faltered. Though she kept the errors half of her opponent’s the moments of uncomfort showed from the start of the match that now had to be calmed during the final set.

Azarenka saw those problems in her opponent and took a point to break her in the second game taking the lead. Sevastova got one in the third but witnessed her opponent pull off the double break making it a tough day for the Latvian. She was down 1-4 with her game in no position to challenge that of her opponent. Another battle on deuce ensued in the sixth with the Latvian trying so hard to hold off the threat. She couldn’t do it as the second break saw Azarenka in a very good pace that awarded her a 5-1 score and service for the match.

She kept the heat in the seventh reaching match point after two hours and nine minutes to get it done on the first try. With a huge sigh of relief and her skills paying off, the returning superstar would be challenged further on as she’ll take on Agnieszka Radwanska Monday.