Victoria Azarenka stomps over Mona Barthel to reach the fourth round – Australian Open 2012
Third seed, Victoria Azarenka, brushed off three breakpoints to dump the German challenger, Mona Barthel, in straight sets at the Australian Open 2012 on Friday. She clobbered a 6-2, 6-4 victory against the 21-year-old German to book a spot in the round
of 16 at the first Grand Slam of the season.
Enjoying her career best rank at number three in the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Rankings, Azarenka showed top-quality performance at the Hisense Arena and blasted away the German in straight sets. Battling each other for the first time, the
Belarusian not only edged Barthel in the head-to-head series by 1-0 but also inched closer to bag 2000 WTA Ranking Points.
“I’m glad I got a little bit more of a challenge today,” Azarenka said about her opponent. “Mona can play really well. I can’t complain. Overall, it was a good match but I’m a little disappointed that I lost my concentration a little bit in the second set.
But you cannot play flawless all the time.”
World number three flashed into the opening set and drew the first blood in the first game to take the initial edge. She maintained her intensity in the remaining set and after earning another break of serve in the fifth game, Azarenka sealed the opener
with a 6-2 success in almost half an hour.
Belarusian number one kept her rhythm in the following set and plucked in entire serves after displayed exceptional defensive skills. She converted one out of four break opportunities in the fifth game and ultimately clinched the set with a 6-4 score line.
All in all, Azarenka dominated throughout the match as she smacked 19 winners and finished the match with 67 points. She also clobbered a higher first serve share of 70 percent as compared to the German’s 54 percent and clinched magnificent 34 out of 47
points on it.
Azarenka will square off against the Czech competitor, Iveta Benesova, who crushed the Russian qualifier, Nina Bratchikova, with a breadstick to reach this spot.
Eighth seed, Agnieszka Radwanska, will accompany Azarenka in the fourth round. She eased through Kazakh ace, Galina Voskoboeva, in straight sets to reach this spot. The high spirited Pole hit fewer winners i.e. 10 as compared to her opponent’s 21 but cashed
in four out of five break chances to bag the match. Radwanska also dusted away all six breakpoints she came across and sealed the deal with a 6-2, 6-2 score line in 66 minutes.
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