Azarenka shines to beat Giorgi at Miami Open

Victoria Azarenka in action during the second round of the Miami Open. 

Victoria Azarenka accepted playing quickly and worked the pace to her advantage at the Miami Open Thursday night. The 14th seed went alongside Camila Giorgi’s speedy movements, matching them to win in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 at Grandstand at the Hard Rock Stadium. The 33-year-old made very few errors in the final set to dominate the Italian and continue her positive ways. 

The 33-year-old wanted to avoid a second consecutive early exit after dropping her first against Karolina Muchova two weeks ago. The Czech took down the winner of the sunshine double in straight sets, but the defeat was a small problem in her recent hard-court success. In her 13 previous visits to the tournament, Azarenka has never lost in the first round. With a fourth meeting against the Italian, the 14th seed wanted to get the series even.

Giorgi played the longest match of the season two days ago, going three and a half hours with Kaia Kanepi. Despite losing leads in all three sets, the 31-year-old carries experience of defeating the former world number one on hard courts, in hopes that she had the energy to do it again.

Giorgi struggled with the serve, double-faulting to give Azarenka break points. She managed to save one, but the 14th seed went on to take the break and get her offense moving. On the third point, Azarenka double-faulted during the second game, giving the Italian room to take a step in and score the break back. She consolidated in the third, showing a strong output that blanked the 33-year-old to love.

The fourth game proved a battle between the players as Giorgi was quick on her feet and playing at the pace she wanted. Azarenka called the Italian in the fifth, breaking her with crosscourt redirects for the lead. She backed it up with a hold of serve, gaining two on Giorgi, who saw her actions work for her opponent. She stayed close on the score with Azarenka until another service hold went the way of the 33-year-old, who led 5-3.

Keeping it tough for the Italian, Giorgi got into a hole on serve and faced two set points to the 14th seed. A shot the body brought an error from Azarenka, but took the set on a slice shot from the Italian, ending the first in 41 minutes. Azarenka outdid Giorgi on winners, capping ten of them, but the real damage was in her points won for the first serve. With that and the speed that she reached against the Italian, Azarenka was on an unstoppable run.

She went on a 3-0 sweep, grabbing two aces in the set that spanned 12 minutes at the time. The Italian brought an end to Azarenka’s five-game winning streak, starting the fourth game with an ace. She defended well to hold serve, adding winners to get back into gear. The 14th seed took a step closer to victory, holding an important service against Giorgi to prevent a slip-up. Having seven winners and no errors was a good position for Azarenka, who had the pressure on her opponent in the sixth.

Two double faults didn’t help the Italian, but errors from the 33-year-old brought up a move to deuce. After battling through five breaks, Azarenka picked up her fifth break point chance, earning the 5-1 stand. On serve for the match, the 14th seed dictated her path to victory, reaching triple match point. One went long, but the second secured it to end the night in 1 hour and 16 minutes.