The new WTA season hasn’t been kind to the former world number one, who lost early at the Gippsland Trophy and the opening round of the Australian Open. The 31 year old mother of one and two time winning in Qatar was back in her fifth appearance facing the Russian for the tenth time. While they haven’t met since 2016, the veterans of the sport would no doubt challenge each other.
Azarenka battled through the six points with Kuznetsova on serve, gaining an edge to earn the break. She was attacked on serve in the second, with the Russian forcing deuce, producing her first break point chance. Azarenka tried to close it on the second break but Kuznetsova turned the tables earning another attempt. The 31 year old denied her once more, before putting the longest game of the set to rest.
Making her pay for the energy invested in the previous game, Azarenka rallied for the double break, allowing the Russian just one point in the third. Kuznetsova got on the board in the third, breaking Azarenka back. The eighth seed denied Kuznetsova to consolidate in the fifth, regaining her three game margin in the process. With another break in hand, Azarenka jumped out to a comfortable lead on serve and won the sixth on a forehand error landing wide for Kuznetsova.
For the first time in the set, Kuznetsova managed to hold off Azarenka, but it was an effort that came too late. Even with some resistance in the eighth, the Belorussian held from her end, forcing an error from Kuznetsova to put an end the first in 44 minutes.
Kuznetsova opened the second set with a change of tactics, managing a hold of serve before changing her racket. Azarenka responded with a quick service game, denying a point to her Russian counterpart. Kuznetsova served to stay in front of the Belorussian but as soon as it was her turn to serve, the eighth seed had a plan to turn the tide. Azarenka backed up the win on serve with a hard fight to break the Russian in the fifth. Though it took three breaks for Azarenka, she had the lead back on an error from Kuznetsova.
The challenge was on for the Russian to get back to level pegging and fight for control. The fight was on between the two when Kuznetsova forced deuce and then produced a breakpoint chance. Azarenka shut it down but it was just the start of a long tug of war. Through 11 breaks Azarenka saved four more from Kuznetsova struggling to put it away herself. It wasn’t until the last one she saved that victory would be hers, gaining a 4-2 hold.
A key break for the eighth seed came when she opened the gap but watched every breakpoint disappear. Despite Kuznetsova’s efforts, she couldn’t stop the inevitable as Azarenka made it 5-2. Serving for a spot in round two, the 31 year old opened out to a comfortable lead for two match points. Kuznetsova got the last laugh on a short rally, saving one of them and a second to force deuce. Kuznetsova was on a mission to take this from Kuznetsova and with a third match point saved, she took the break to close within two games of the Belorussian.
Hoping to add another and make the set worthwhile, Kuznetsova unfortunately found herself trailing Azarenka. A fourth match point came up for the former world number one but the Russian was again relentless. She forced deuce, but that was all she could put together as the 31 year old went on to set up a fifth match point and won it on a line drive that Kuznetsova was short to return on ending the match in 1 hour and 51 minutes.
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