Victoria Azarenka cripples Iveta Benesova to reach the quarters – Australian Open 2012
Belarusian number one, Victoria Azarenka, put up a firm display of tennis to dump the Czech tennis star, Iveta Benesova, in straight sets at the Australian Open 2012 on Sunday. She registered a 6-2, 6-2 victory over the Czech veteran to advance into the
final four at this first Grand Slam event of the season taking place in Melbourne, Australia.
The third seed broke Benesova’s serve four times to not only edge in their head-to-head series by 4-0 but also secured a spot in the quarter-finals at the Melbourne Park. She required 77 minutes to crush the Czech, ranked 46th in the WTA (Women’s
Tennis Association) Premier Rankings and prevailed throughout the match.
World number three confidently entered the Rod Laver Arena and drew the first blood in the opening game. She maintained consistency in her form and broke the Czech’s serve again in the fifth game, subsequently going 5-1 up. Azarenka then held her serve once
more and sealed the opener by winning six games to two in 34 minutes.
She swiped in entire serves without facing any breakpoint and cashed in two out of five break opportunities to prevail. The Belarusian formulated a lower first serve share of 58 percent as compared to Benesova’s 77 percent but registered a perfect win on
it.
The Belarusian seed kept momentum rolling into the following set and got the critical break in the opening game again. She stayed in the destructive mode and wiped out the proceeding three games as well, eventually going 4-0 up. Later, Azarenka held remaining
serves and plucked in the set with a 6-2 score line.
Azarenka manifested a better first serve share this time and clicked an impressive 14 out of 19 points on it. She dusted away both breakpoints she encountered and capitalised on two out of five break opportunities, triumphing the set in 43 minutes.
The 22-year-old will square off against the eighth seed, Agnieszka Radwanska, who slew the German ace, Julia Goerges, with double breadsticks to reach this spot. The Pole lost her serve once but broke Goerges’ serve six times, sealing the match with a 6-1,
6-1 victory in 54 minutes.
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