By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, March 29, 2021
Unpredictability is a mutual asset of sometime doubles partners Ashleigh Barty and Victoria Azarenka.
Today, the Grand Slam champions showed a shared flair for surprise collaborating on a topsy-turvy Miami Open showdown.
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In a clash of current and former world No. 1 champions, Barty broke serve five times, topping her buddy Azarenka 6-1, 1-6, 6-2 to reach the Miami Open quarterfinals for the second time.
"I'm just excited now that I get to be in another quarterfinal of a big event," Barty said. "I still feel like there is a lot better tennis left out there for me. I still don't feel like I'm playing my very best just yet, but I'm fighting through and I'm finding ways to win, which is great."
It is Barty's ninth straight win in Miami Gardens and sends her into an elite eight match against another Belarusian, Aryna Sabalenka.
The seventh-seeded Sabalenka swept 19th-seeded Czech Marketa Vondrousova, 6-1, 6-2 in 67 minutes.
"Obviously she's exceptionally powerful and loves to take that first strike on and move you off the baseline as quickly as she can and get in control," Barty said of Sabalenka. "I feel like I will really need to be able to play my best to be able to compete and really stay in it."
Reigning Miami champion Barty and three-time champion Azarenka joined forces to win the 2019 Rome doubles title and reach the US Open doubles final the same year. Each knows the others strengths and weaknesses well, which is one reason for the starkly disparate scorelines in the first two sets.
On the surface, this blockbuster battle pitted Barty's stinging serve and unsettling variety of spins and speeds against Azarenka's accurate return and immaculate ball-striking.
Ultimately, Barty's superior serving—she served 67 percent with six aces—and fluid transition game were key components to the win that raised her record to 11-2 on the season.
The top-seeded Barty broke twice in Azarenka's first three service games bursting out to a 5-1 lead before serving out the 34-minute opener on the strength of 10 winners to 3 for her opponent.
Two-time Grand Slam champion Azarenka showed her appetite for the fight completely turning the tables in set two.
Stepping close to the line, Azarenka won every point played on Barty's second serve in the second set.
Showing her skill changing direction down the line, Azarenka drew a netted forehand registering the first break for 2-0. Digging out of a triple break point hole in the ensuing game, the three-time Miami Open champion confirmed the break with a hard-fought hold for a 3-0 second-set lead.
Focusing her attack on the Barty backhand before changing direction to make the Aussie hit running forehands from defensive positiions, Azarenka again pressured in the fourth game coaxing a netted forehand for the double break and a 4-0 lead 55 minutes into the match.
Continuing to challenge the top seed's weaker backhand wing, Azarenka drew an errant backhand return forcing a final set after 62 minutes of play.
The 24-year-old Aussie denied a match point in a 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 comeback conquest of qualifier Karolina Kucova in her Miami opener and withstood the stress test today.
In the early stages of the decider, neither woman was giving up much ground behind the baseline.
The reigning champion turned the tables with a series of diagonal forehands earning double break point. Breaking open the point with a backhand down the line that surprised the Belarusian, Barty stepped in and thumped a bounce smash breaking for 2-0.
Working through a demanding hold for 3-2, Barty squeezed the serve of her doubles partner again. Azarenka narrowly missed a crosscourt forehand as Barty broke for the fourth time for 4-2.
Seeing Azarenka's sneak attack on net, Barty sent a slithering slice at the Belarusian's shoelaces then slashed her sixth ace backing up the break for 5-2.
Azarenka saved two match points but sailed a shot to face a third match point. Barty put another pass at the Belarusian's feet eliciting a netted volley to become the first woman into the quarterfinals after one hour, 52 minutes.
Photo credit: Mark Brown/Getty