By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, September 3, 2020
Victoria Azarenka continued her resurgence rolling through nine of the first 10 games blasting past Belarusian compatriot Aryna Sabalenka 6-1, 6-3 into the US Open third round.
Photo credit: Carmen Mandato/USTA
The rematch was a mismatch.
A resolute Victoria Azarenka continued her resurgence rolling through nine of the first 10 games in blasting past Belarusian compatriot Aryna Sabalenka 6-1, 6-3 into the US Open third round for the 11th time.
Kenin: Victory Vindication
Fit and focused, the former world No. 1 stretched her winning streak to seven matches avenging a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 loss to Sabalenka in the US Open first round last August.
“I’m really happy that two Belarusians are showing such great tennis on the biggest stages in the world,” Azarenka told Blair Henley afterward. “So I’m very, very proud of that. Sharing the court with Aryna is obviously a pleasure for me. I saw her when she was growing up and I’m really glad that she’s doing really well. Obviously when you face someone, you want to beat them. But this is on the court and last year she won today I had to play better.
“I knew how dangerous she is and I feel I’m a better player this year. So I changed a couple of things and I was able to finish it today.”
It was Azarenka’s best win in terms of ranking since she edged sixth-ranked Elina Svitolina on the red clay of Rome in May of 2019.
A sloppy Sabalenka opened with an ace but it was all Azarenka after that.
Empowered by her run to her 21st career title at the Western & Southern Open last weekend, staged on the same Billie Jean King National Tennis Center hard courts, Azarenka dissected the Sabalenka second serve masterfully. She won 11 of 15 points played on her Fed Cup teammate’s second delivery converting all five of her break points in a 67-minute thrashing.
“Confidence comes before you win if you really believe in yourself and believe in your work you’re confident,” Azarenka said. “The result is something that is a confirmation of your hard work.
“If you don’t believe in yourself before you get the result I don’t think you’ll be getting those… As long as I put my happy face my genuine smile on the court, I think I’ll be okay.”
The two-time US Open finalist played with more poise and precision tonight. In this meeting of Minsk-born baseliners, Sabalenka sprayed three times as many errors—27 to 9—repeatedly trying to strong-arm her way through points.
The 11th-ranked Sabalenka slid an ace to open. Then Azarenka took charge breaking in the opening game and exploiting a double fault to break again for a 3-0 lead.
An erratic Sabalenka couldn’t consistently find the court, while Azarenka was striking sharp combinations extending the lead to 4-0 after 16 minutes of play.
Heavy rain pelted the retractable roof over Louis Armstrong Stadium while Azarenka, changing direction shrewdly, stormed to a 5-1 lead.
Reading the fifth seed’s serve as clearly as the scoreboard, Azarenka slipped a short-angle return that a sprinting Sabalenka could not control. The former No. 1 sprinted through the 27-minute opening set converting all three of her break points, while Sabalenka more than tripled Azarenka’s error output (17 to 5).
On this night, Sabalenka was unable or unwilling to temper her prodigious power and try to patiently construct points. Over-hitting a massive second serve, she fell into another break point hole.
Azarenka, so sharp at changing direction, drove a down the line backhand winner scoring her fifth break in five changes for 4-2.
When she wasn’t driving the ball deep, Azarenka carved a clever drop-shot winner holding for 5-2. Contesting her 50th career Grand Slam, Azarenka will try to keep her rolling going against either American Sachia Vickery or Poland's Iga Swiatek for a place in the round of 16.