After her gripping, gut-wrenching 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(1) victory over Victoria Azarenka, world No. 1 Serena Williams had good things to say about her former rival.

More: Williams Saves 3 Match Points to Sneak Past Azarenka in Madrid

“She's absolutely on her way back,” Williams said. “It's so good to see a Grand Slam champion like her playing so well. I'm always rooting for Victoria when she plays.”

Williams went on to say she had a feeling that Azarenka was going to double-fault on her third match point, which came after the Belarussian asked the umpire to check a ball mark on her first serve, which missed being an ace by a small margin.

“Well, she almost hit an ace and just missed it by not even three centimeters,” Williams said. “So I thought, ‘Wow, she shouldn't challenge that. If she challenges she's going to hit a double fault.’ Sure enough, she did. Then it was only deuce. It was still her serve. She had been serving really well. So I felt like she could still do well. I just think that I was returning halfway decent maybe, so maybe it was just—it's a lot of stress out there. I hit several double faults and I double faulted a game away. She did, too. Nothing abnormal."

Overall, Williams came away impressed with Azarenka’s game, and said she expects their next battle to be even better.

“I felt she served a lot better than she had in the past. I felt like she was really able to hit a lot of aces and do a lot of things like that. Yeah, she did some new things, but it's good to play her. Now next time I'll know what to expect. I'll be able to play better, and then I'll be better. Same for her, she'll be ready for me, too. I think it'll be an even better match, believe it or not, next time.”