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Victoria Azarenka was in control and easily moved into the second round of the US Open Tuesday. The former two-time finalist dispatched Barbara Haas 6-1, 6-2 on Court Five to advance at the Billy Jean King National Tennis Center.
Coming off her victory at the Western and Southern Open, Azarenka has her eyes on becoming a champion for the first time in New York. The 31-year-old who had a tough time coming back from the long break from tennis, pushed herself to be successful. She carries a six-match winning streak and hopes that her first ever meeting against the Austrian is worthwhile. Haas made it to the main draw back in 2016 but didn’t get further than that. With the Belorussian playing like the former world number one, the chances of her pulling off an upset would be on whether she gets the best start at the grand slam.
The Belorussian did well serving from the baseline as she allow one point to Haas in the first game, followed by a break in the second. Azarenka went up 3-0 having a slight challenge from the Austrian but holding the break on deuce. The former world number one scored the double break on Haas in just 15 minutes.
The former world number one had things well under control with another service game that put her at 5-0 with Haas out of ideas. In the sixth, Azarenka faced three set points before the Austrian produced a comeback. They got to deuce when Haas scored an ace and ended her opponent’s shutout on a forced error to Azarenka. It took nothing away from the 31-year-old as she returned to serve and brought an end to the first with double set point that took 27 minutes.
Haas opened the second, leading the way to change the pace. Azarenka managed to follow the Austrian with a win allowing her a single point. Just when the 24-year-old thought that she might be the one to raise the bar each time for Azarenka, the former world number one pushed her to make a mistake on a high ball return. The error led to a break for the Belorussian who was back on serve in the fourth. She allowed Haas two points before taking the game and a 3-1 commanding lead.
Another double break was in Azarenka’s hands right before she had a 5-1 lead on the Austrian. Haas etched out another victory in the seventh, but it was all said and done for the Belorussian who finished her evening on court with two match points, completing a straight sets win that took an hour to accomplish.
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