Aryna Sabalenka captures Ostrava Open title in straight sets over Victoria Azarenka

What was supposed to be a battle between Belorussians ended with a bad beat for Victoria Azarenka at the J&T Banka Ostrava Open. After being worked in the opening set by Aryna Sabalenka, the 31 year suffered a headache and couldn’t recover, giving the third seed the 6-2, 6-2 win for her eighth career WTA title and second this year. 

The two faced off for the third time in a big moment for not only themselves but for the country of Belarus. Both top 15 players reached the final making it the first time two from their country met for a tennis championship. Both had straight-sets wins over Maria Sakkari and Jennifer Brady to make this meeting possible. The former doubles partners know each other’s tactics which were on display twice at the US Open. After the 22-year-old took victory there in 2019, the surging former world number one leveled the series with a statement in the second round this season. With both already carrying a championship win so far, a second would put a cap on their year. 

Azarenka opened service but fell behind in the first but managed to reel in Sabalenka, force deuce and get the hold. The third seed held her end, showing strength from the forehand early on. The fourth seed followed suit, giving her compatriot one point in the third game to lead the set. Four games of serve were in the books with Sabalenka notching an easy one on Azarenka. The 22-year-old quickly changed the pace with a break to love. Showing tremendous action on the returns, the third seed acted well to shut Azarenka down. 

Her plan began to take shape as Sabalenka consolidated the break to double her lead after six. The third seed made it four straight, earning the double break on the 31-year-old with a speedy pace. On serve for the set, Sabalenka rushed through fourth points that overwhelmed Azarenka who found herself down a set in 35 minutes. The third seed made a lot of first ball errors that tallied all the problems to a pair of double faults, five unforced errors, and allowing Sabalenka 16 winners. 

When the second got underway, Azarenka dug in, slowed down her end, and won strong against her opponent. Sabalenka refused to follow her pace and rushed to 40-0 in the second. Azarenka got on the board but a ball into the net clinched the win for her younger compatriot. The 31-year-old called for the trainer to come out as something was ailing her efforts to match Sabalenka on the court. With a break to love, Sabalenka took the lead which led Azarenka to speak with the physio and doctor as she looked unwell. 

The fourth seed took a medical timeout while the physio massaged her head to relieve the headache. She reluctantly returned to play where Sabalenka took the first three points and soon after the game. Azarenka battled her headache while waiting for the aspirins taken during the timeout to take effect. It didn’t bring her a win on serve as the third seed captured another break to sit two games from the title. 

In a surprise, Azarenka showed little effort in the sixth that broke Sabalenka while she continued to rub her own head to alleviate the pain. The 22-year-old broke back to quickly get into position on serve and go for the match. Reaching three championship points with ease, the third seed lost two but her third attempt was a crosscourt winner to win in one hour and eight minutes.