Victoria Azarenka downs Jessica Pegula in three sets at Bett1 Open

 

Victoria Azarenka fought well into the evening against Jessica Pegula at the Bett1 Open in Berlin, Germany. 

Jessica Pegula put up a difficult time for her opponent but came up short at the Bett1 Open Friday evening. With the light quickly fading, Victoria Azarenka overcame a problem where she rushed the second set and had to play three, but came through in a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 on Steffi Graff Stadion at the Rot-Weiss Tennis Club in Berlin. 

Both had tough opponents in the round of 16 to get to this point. Their battle at the Australian Open that Pegula won, would ignite much on the grass courts between them. As the competitive star that she is, Azarenka wanted nothing more than to avenge the Buffalo, New York native, and even the series while advancing to the semifinal. As the Belorussian faced a tough young opponent, timing, and movement on the court were going to determine who bested the other. 

Azarenka was first to produce a win on the evening, scoring a serve to love against the American. She backed it up despite some challenges on serve and Pegula fighting for a shot at breaking back. Pegula notched a shutout of Azarenka but the early damage held firm as the 31-year-old took a 3-1 lead with her hold of service. 

The 27-year-old kept in touch with the Belorussian, but her counterpart was well under control with her service game. A second serve to love was produced by Azarenka, who then gave a fight to the American in the seventh. After she forced deuce, she kept the pressure on the server, saving two more game points before breaking a second time. Azarenka finished things up with the third shutout of Pegula that brought the set to a close in 28 minutes. Her serve was at 65 percent with eight winners and an ace that wrecked the nerves of Pegula. 

She rolled her success into the second set, winning her fourth game in a row. With the break in hand, Azarenka held in the second to increase her streak and put the American back in a hole. She notched a victory on her second service game of the set, but getting a break on the former world number one was not in her current hand. After seven games, the margin remained one game for Azarenka, who served the eighth but ran into trouble that quickly gave Pegula the serve to love and a level terms situation. 

When it came time for her to serve, Pegula worked well, pressured Azarenka, and came through with a hold to sit up 5-4. The Belorussian avoided going down on serve and tied it back in the tenth to go further on with the American vying to lead once more. With help from Azarenka’s return errors, Pegula got the victory easily to return the pressure on the 31-year-old. Errors were enough to help the American get into position in the 12^th and force the match to three sets after 47 minutes. The rush that Pegula put on Azarenka produced 15 unforced errors and four double faults. 

With that damage and the knowledge of her mistakes, the Belorussian came into the deciding set with a shutout of the American.  Pegula broke back in the second that led them to continue breaking apart each other’s games. After four breaks of serve, Pegula changed things up to take the lead 3-2 with darkness approaching. Azarenka responded with a hold to love in the sixth while both showed no signs of giving up. 

The Belorussian went on to break the American and back it up with a service hold in the eighth. With just one more game to win, the 31-year-old worked hard to get it finished. Pegula held firm to love in the ninth, but she was not away from the edge as Azarenka had a shot at closing the match. Azarenka took care of business running up to a 40-0 run before Pegula got lucky on a shot near the net, getting just over the net. A winner helped the Belorussian get over the finish line, scoring a winner that ended things in 1 hour and 50 minutes.