Madison Keys breezes through Victoria Azarenka in straight sets.

Madison Keys celebrates a point during her round of 16 match at the the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships. 

Madison Keys coasted to an easy upset at the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships Wednesday. Victoria Azarenka had an ankle injury that hindered her best performance against the American, who took the win in a 6-2, 6-1 result on Centre Court at the Dubai Tennis Stadium. The 15th seed refused to retire and allow the match to go forward, fighting to play against the pain in her lower right leg.

The 33-year-old has a four-match lead against the American, who managed to send two of them to the distance. Keys made work of Caroline Garcia, who refused to allow intimidation to become a factor. The same is said of the former world number one, who put in a lot more time against Amanda Anisimova. With another American in her path, the 15th seed knew she could have another challenge by Keys like the one at Melbourne Park.

Keys opened the match with good shots to Azarenka, who struggled to get the ball over the net. After attaining the service, she watched Azarenka struggle as well, with a limp from her right ankle being taped up. The 15th seed held her end of the court, but the difference was noticeable as Keys swiftly took care of the third game. Azarenka stayed close on the score, but her movement lessened against the American, who was easily serving against the former world number one and gaining breakpoints the same.

With two games on Azarenka, Keys overcame a 0-30 gap to return stronger and hold serve for a three-game margin. Serving to stay in the set, the 15th seed tried her best to hit accurately and with strength, but running for the returns proved painful. At deuce, Keys was handed the AD point on Azarenka’s third double fault, closing out the first in 31 minutes. Her serve percentage reached 78 percent compared to Azarenka’s 54 and was outscored 29-18.

Keys opened the second much like the first, breaking Azarenka on her service in the second to consolidate. She picked up two more games against her opponent, closing in on her first-ever victory against the tennis veteran. After the break of the 15th seed, Keys easily capped the match, holding serve in the seventh to complete the upset in under an hour. With a spot in the quarterfinal, Keys could potentially faceoff against Coco Gauff or Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in Thursday’s competition.