Victoria Azarenka charges into the third round after beating Andrea Hlavackova – Madrid Open 2012
Blistering world number one, Victoria Azarenka, continued with her sublime run of form in the running season to overwhelm the Czech qualifier, Andrea Hlavackova, in the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open on Tuesday. The top
seeded Belarusian took one hour and 45 minutes to wrap up the contest in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6(2), to reach the round of 16 of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Mandatory event in Madrid, Spain.
22-year-old Azarenka was facing the Czech competitor for the third time in her career and the Tuesday’s battle ended with the similar fate for Hlavackova as the prior two encounters did. The world number one registered her third
straight sets victory over Hlavackova to lead 3-0 in the all-time head-to-head series.
The 117th ranked Czech was off to a sloppy start in the contest to provide early impetus to Azarenka. She was completely outplayed by the top seed in the opening set but posed some solid resistance in the following set
to give some tough time to her. The world number one stood focused in the contest and prevailed in the second set tie-breaker round to register her 31st victory of the running season.
"I feel like I lost a little bit of my concentration," Azarenka said of the end of the match. "I don't think I adjusted well to some of the obstacles that happened, but I'm glad I could turn it around pretty quickly and finish
the match. Sometimes you can have those rollercoasters and Andrea is one of those players who doesn't give you a rhythm - I'm glad I finished it, and there's room to improve."
Azarenka is slated to feature a tough third round battle later this week when she will square off against the other former world number one, Ana Ivanovic. The 13th seed Serbian tennis ace outsmarted the Russian veteran,
Nadia Petrova, 7-5, 6-1, in the second round clash of the Mutua Madrid Open on Tuesday to book a date with the hot favourite top seed contender. Ivanovic leads 2-1 over Azarenka in the all-time head-to-head series and an enthralling contest is anticipated
between these two top class performers.
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