Victoria Azarenka takes another from Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets

Victoria Azarenka clenches her fist after a point played during the third round of the Qatar TotalEnergies Open. 

Jelena Ostapenko had a dismal start that she couldn’t pull out of at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open Wednesday night. The Latvian was blanked by Victoria Azarenka and fought back in the second to lose 6-0, 6-3 on center court at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex. It notched the fifth win for the former world number one against Ostapenko to enter Thursday’s quarterfinal.

The WTA’s hottest rivalry this season made its third match-up between the eighth seed and the former world number one. For Azarenka, she managed to win at Brisbane and Melbourne and is still undefeated against the Latvian. On Tuesday, both Azarenka and Ostapenko won their respective third rounds in straight sets. The 26-year-old committed a few unforced errors to ready herself for this situation, with a ten-match winning streak in hand.

The 34-year-old got off to a rousing start, taking Ostapenko on a run through her service, allowing two points in the game. She went on to break her due to three double faults from the Latvian. Azarenka sped through the third in a serve to love and nine minutes elapsed. A second service game didn’t go the way of the Latvian, who committed another two double faults, allowing the world number 31 to make it 4-0 to her name.

Feeling the comfort of a large lead, Azarenka coasted through her serve in the fifth, drawing easy errors from Ostapenko. Double faults continued to rattle her offense and with unforced errors, the fight at deuce was brutal for the 26-year-old. Screams at the end of points were positive to start, but after seven times at deuce, Azarenka was the one celebrating the set win after 28 minutes. Ostapenko had seven double faults and a second serve percentage below 10 percent. The Latvian added up 23 unforced errors in the set, knowing that it was going to be an uphill climb.

Azarenka faced a challenge from the Latvian to begin the second set, taking the competition to deuce for the second time in the match. Azarenka saved three breakpoints in the game before winning it on third. Ostapenko managed to build up a service hold in the second, gaining cheers from the crowd. While she held for the first time, the eighth seed didn’t take anything from Azarenka’s who cruised through the third. Ostapenko brought winners into the mix, containing the service to remain level.

The fifth game was a battle for Azarenka, who lost the chance to lose it out at 40-30. Ostapenko produced breakpoints twice but after the fifth deuce, the win went to Azarenka. The eighth seed took a medical timeout off the court before returning to action. She held for the third time, making it an even output of service holds through six games. Azarenka marked her fourth service game, holding off Ostapenko from a late push to deuce.

She took the challenge to the Latvian, who had double faults in her game and fell to a break in the eighth. The 34-year-old served for the match but fell behind the scoring. She scored the next three straight to watch match point go into the net from Ostapenko and end the night in 1 hour and 28 minutes.

“She tried everything to get back into the match,” Azarenka said about her opponent. “There was evidence of that, but I’m happy that I was able to hold my serves, and I think that was important to keep that pressure from that first set, and I was able to close it out.” Standing in her way was world number one Iga Swiatek, whom she faced at the US Open four years ago.

“Iga’s been improving so much,” Azarenka said about her next challenge. “She’s been playing incredible, so it’s going to be a great challenge and I’m looking forward to seeing how my game matches up to her and try my best for sure.”