By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Iga Swiatek opened accounts at Dubai with a dominant victory over former No.1 Victoria Azarenka.
Photo Source: TC
There was a moment of light for Victoria Azarenka amidst the darkness of a straight-sets drubbing at the hands of Iga Swiatek on Tuesday night in Dubai.
It came in the ninth game of the match, after eight straight disappointments. A double fault gave Azarenka a small window. She had won a game! The former world number one had broken and was back on serve, if only for an instant, 6-0 2-1.
She raised her finger in the air in mock triumph and looked at her coach in dismay, clearly unhappy about the run of play, and not seeing much hope in her situation.
Azarenka‘s light would be short-lived as the Pole swept through the next game and resumed her dominance en route to a 6-0, 6-2 thrashing of the two-time grand slam champion. that left Azarenka talking to herself behind her baseline, wondering what she would have to do — or if she could do it — to tame the blazing game of Swiatek.
She could not, only the rain could have saved her on this day, but it relented after many hours of sabotaging play.
Swiatek and Azarenka had a long day of waiting, through heavy rain and several delays, before the match started. Swiatek said she read a book, took a nap and did some Legos to kill the time.
“I’m just happy that I was ready,” she said.
She praised 35-year-old Azarenka after her victory as well.
“I have so much respect for her,” she said. “Her career is outstanding and she is still playing super good — I was ready for anything. I was just solid and focused and in the zone.”
Such is the fate of many on the WTA tour when they face one of the most ruthless front runners of her generation and perhaps all time. The five-time Slam champion was knocked off her perch in Doha last week as she attempted to win a fourth consecutive title there, but she appears eager to resume her domination in Dubai, where she has never won.
A finalist in Dubai in 2023, Swiatek would love nothing more than to finish her Middle Eastern run with the prestigious hardcourt title. Domination on the clay has been easy to come by for the 23 year-old but on hardcourt it is more complicated.
She improved to four and one against Azarenka and will face either Anastasia Potapova or Dayana Yastremska in the next round.
Credit Azarenka, who finally managed a service hold in the 12 game of the match to stay within a break at 4-2 down in the second set.
A crosscourt backhand winner even gave her a great point to get back on serve in the next game.
Swiatek brushed that aside with a winner, and for good measure brushed a second break point opportunity aside with another, even more impressive winner.
A sixth break of serve ended the contest in one hour and 13 minutes.
Swiatek finished with 18 forehand winners and 11 backhand winners, while committing just nine unforced errors in total. Azarenka hit seven winners off the ground, to go with 13 unforced. Swiatek won 59 of 93 total points played, and converted six of 11 break points.
Rain played a factor in Tuesday’s proceedings at Dubai canceling several matches and delaying play for many hours.
When skies permitted top seeds did well: fourth-seeded Jasmine Paolini, fifth-seeded Jessica Pegula, sixth-seeded Elena Rybakina, and ninth-seeded Paula Badosa all came through in straight sets.
11th-seeded Diana Shnaider lost to talented Czech Linda Noskova in three.