Victoria Azarenka survives opening round in three set French Open battle

Victoria Azarenka swings the forehand during her opening round match with Ana Bogdan at the French Open. 

Victoria Azarenka put her whole heart into a long overdrawn match but came through strong at the French Open Monday. After two delays in her match with Ana Bogdan in the opening round, the 15^th seed battled the Romanian in three sets winning 6-7(7), 7-6(1), 6-2 on Court 14 at Roland Garros. 

The two met for the first time with the former world number one looking for another good run at Roland Garros like she had last season. Though she made it to the round of 16, the 32-year-old wanted to better her performances in Rome and Madrid. Azarenka also wanted to prevent going out early against the Romanian, who already invested in a WTA 125, making it to the semifinal. With Bodgan and Azarenka near age, the two would give it their all in the opening round to continue on. 

Bogdan opened the match with a hold of serve, keeping Azarenka to a single point. She then challenged the 15^th seed by gaining a breakpoint late in the second. Azarenka got to deuce and sealed it on the first break. She went on to break the Romanian in the third and backed it up to take a 3-1 lead. It was soon 4-1 in favor of Azarenka, who successfully achieved the double break. Bogdan managed to answer back in the shape of breaking the 15^th seed. The Romanian’s response didn’t break the former world number one, who scored the triple break and a 5-2 run. 

Just when it looked as if Azarenka had a way to end the set, Bogdan nailed the double break, starting a three-game winning streak that leveled the score. The match saw its seventh break go to Azarenka, who had the door open to take the set again. The Romanian denied her that opportunity and tied the score at six-all, bringing up a set tiebreak to determine the leader. It was there that each player had her moments, with Azarenka's opening scoring. She couldn’t get Bogdan to stay back, even after a three-all score. On her first set point attempt, Bogdan broke Azarenka and then watched the 32-year-old blow two more chances on serve. 

The Romanian tied the score on the 12^th point and took the lead at 7-6 for her chance at the set. Azarenka saved one and tied it on the 14^th point, but on the 15^th, an error from her side of service enabled a second set point for Bogdan, who didn’t miss, scoring the victory 9-7, taking the set in one hour and eight minutes. Both players had their troubles with double faults and unforced errors, but Azarenka stood out as the one who took the brunt of the mistakes. 

She tried to make up for that during the second set when she held serve to start things off. Bogdan followed suit and suddenly lost the next two games with Azarenka up a break. The Romanian fought to break back in the fifth, just as the rain began to fall on the court again. The sixth game became drawn out as they struggled to finish it. On deuce, they went three breaks until Bogdan managed to hold serve just before play was suspended. 

 After a two-hour and four-minute rain delay, play resumed with Azarenka serving the seventh game. She committed a double fault but rallied to take the game in her control. Bogdan followed suit and continued to match the 32-year-old until her moment came for a break. The Romanian took the 11^th, opening the window to end the match herself. The 15^th seed refused to go out that way and broke back to force another tiebreak. It was one that she had a better handle on, allowing Bogdan just one point in the process of reaching seven. The set was over in 65 minutes, with a third set coming into play. 

Azarenka opened the third with a dominant play that nearly broke Bogdan to love. She went on to back up the break for a 2-0 lead, only to see the Romanian get on track. The 15^th seed kept two games between herself and Bogdan until she managed another break in the fifth for a 4-1 lead. The 29-year-old broke back to get within two, but the former world number one broke again to make it 5-2. With the window open to serve for the match, the 32-year-old started the eighth game with a tricky lob shot that Bogdan couldn’t return correctly. 

She gave her another lob on the second point and Bogdan watched it land long of the baseline. The Romanian caught the line on the third point and soon gained another, but Azarenka assured herself match point. It came on a 12-shot rally that Bogdan put into the net ending an emotional win for the 32-year-old in 2 hours and 58 minutes.