Victoria Azarenka plonks Alexandra Panova in the opener – US Open 2012
Reigning world number one, Victoria Azarenka, scuttled past the 76th ranked Russian star, Alexandra Panova, to clear the opening stage of the US Open in New York. She trounced her rival in straight sets 6-0, 6-1.
It was a tremendous start for the 23-year-old Belarusian who has faced a bit of trouble to sustain her form in the recent past. However, there was no trouble witnessed for the shrieking queen as she gusted away the Russian age-fellow
with a bagel and a breadstick.
The opening set witnessed a supreme display of all round performance from the top seed superstar. She showed her blistering power and accuracy smashing multiple winners and allowing nothing at all for the Russian star.
Azarenka won three breakpoints on the trot; never allowed her competitor to settle down in the atmosphere and kept on battering the Russian beauty starlet. It looked like she was playing someone from a junior category.
Panova could have only wished for some miracle that could have saved a double bagel for her. She started off in dismal fashion; dropped the opening serve game of the second set as well. Azarenka kept cruising with a serve hold
and took away another breakpoint in the third game of the match.
Out of nowhere, the 23-year-old Russian broke serve in the fourth game to get off the mark in the match. A sarcastic round of applause was witnessed around the arena and Panova held her racquet up to thank the crowd in funny fashion.
Azarenka didn’t waste any time in stamping her authority back into the contest. She won another breakthrough that extended the lead to 4-1. A tight serve hold for the Belarusian tennis ace helped her to post a resounding score
line with just a game away from a cracking triumph.
Panova could just win one point in the final serve game and gifted the sixth breakthrough to her opponent. It was a perfect start for the top seed superstar who has struggled quite a bit with niggling injuries that has seen a slight
slump in her fantastic run of form.
Kirsten Flipkens will be the next opponent for Azarenka.
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