Victoria Azarenka handles Jill Teichmann in straight sets at Australian Open.

Victoria Azarenka gives a fist up during her second-round match with Jill Teichmann at the Australian Open. 

Victoria Azarenka played her second-round match with success at the Australian Open Wednesday afternoon. Despite some tough moments against Jill Teichmann, the Belorussian came through with a 6-1, 6-2 win on Kia Arena at Melbourne Park. 

The 32-year-old had an easy completion to her straight-sets match Monday, preparing herself for a more experienced challenge in the Swiss. Teichmann put in some time with her Swiss teammates to prepare for the opening slam and came through, winning against Petra Martic in straight sets. While this was her first time facing Azarenka, she would have to adjust to the hard-hitting right-hander and her reliable cross-court shots. 

Azarenka opened with a strong service game that rattled Teichmann in the following game. She allowed the Belorussian to gain free points and double-faulted to hand the early break. When she returned to service, the 32-year-old was down 15-40 and had to force deuce while saving breakpoints. After denying a third by Teichmann for the AD point, she moved her way to go for the game on the second break and made it 3-0. 

A hard fight from Teichmann got her on the board in the fourth as it took two breaks of deuce and consistency to hold serve. Azarenka responded with back-to-back wins, gaining another break and serving for the set. Teichmann was the first to get to breakpoint status, forcing Azarenka to fight her way back again on serve. She forced deuce and got hold of an AD point. She instead committed her first double fault and played a net-front position to get another. It took a wide return from the Swiss to get her out of trouble and take the first in 36 minutes. 

The Belorussian didn’t have more than five winners but erred just nine times compared to Teichmann’s 14. With the double faults being her real issue, the second set was important for the former world number one to remain focused from an offensive standpoint. Teichmann opened the scoring in the second set and held off Azarenka’s late push. The 24^th seed answered with a good hold followed by a break and backed it up to lead 3-1. 

Azarenka continued her tear, scoring a double break against Teichmann to widen the gap and see the third round on the horizon. With the Belorussian back on serve, she cruised to a win making it 5-1 in her favor. It left Teichmann in a position to produce a victory or see her singles run to an end. The Swiss star won a huge point in the seventh but double-faulted on the second point of the game. She got ahead of Azarenka on another key winner before forcing an error to continue on. 

It was Azarenka serving for the match and she worked to get two match point on a regretful error from Teichmann. She played the crosscourt returns well, letting the 32-year-old commit the error. She brushed that aside and played a long rally up until the point where a crosscourt to Teichmann’s left was the one that put things away in 1 hour and 12 minutes. With a good finish to another early tournament match, Azarenka will await the winner between Elina Svitolin and Harmony Tan.