Former world No.1 Victoria Azarenka has showcased her combating spirit to safe a 7-6 (11-9) 7-6 (7-5) win over Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina on the Adelaide International 1.
Kalinina raced out to a 5-1 lead early in Tuesday’s match, however Azarenka saved 5 set factors to steal the primary set and the all-important momentum.
Azarenka led 3-0 within the second set, however suffered some wobbles and blew two match factors as the competition headed to a different tiebreak.
The two-time grand slam winner noticed one other two match factors slip by her fingers however lastly sealed the win in two hours, 37 minutes.
“When you talk about first matches it’s never easy, and this one definitely wasn’t,” Azarenka stated throughout her on-court interview after the match.
“I played an opponent who played really well.
“I felt like I could not discover my footing firstly of the match. I hope to do some bit higher tomorrow.”
The Belarusian will next face world No.28 Zheng Qinwen, who saved a match point on the way to a 6-1 4-6 7-6 (9-7) win over No.6 seed Anett Kontaveit.
Zheng, the 2022 WTA Newcomer of the Year, led 4-2 in the second set before Kontaveit reeled off four straight games to send it to a decider.
World No.17 Kontaveit had a match point at 7-6 in the third-set tiebreak, but Zheng held firm to save it before sealing the win moments later.
“I used to be main 4-2 up within the second set, and at that second I used to be not centered, and I let the opponent come again into the match,” Zheng stated.
“This is tennis, and I’m completely happy I’m in a position to maintain the strain within the third set within the tiebreak and to win the primary match of the yr.”
Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova suffered an upset 4-6 6-3 6-2 loss to Marketa Vondrousova.
