VIKA MAGIC! 2-time former champion Victoria Azarenka STUNS Elina Svitolina in the third round of the 2022 Australian Open
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Elina Svitolina and Victoria Azarenka
Belarusian 24th seed Victoria Azarenka is definitely past her prime. But she once again recalled those good old days in the third round against Elina Svitolina in the 2022 Australian Open and played flawless tennis to beat the Ukrainian. She defeated Svitolina in straight sets 6-0,6-2 on Rod Laver Arena.
Azarenka, who last reached the second week at Australian Open in 2016 is once again back on the big stage. On Sunday, she will play her 9th Australian Open fourth round match. Her best performance came in 2012 and 2013 when she went all the way to win the title.
The 32-year old absolutely dominated the match right from the first set. She was on song on her serve and was hitting hard from the baseline. She broke Svitolina right away to take an early lead. The Ukrainian didn’t have any answers for Azarenka’s groundstrokes as she got broken twice again. Azarenka eventually won the set 6-0 to bagel her opponent.
Azarenka carried all the momentum into the second set. She entertained the Laver crowd by her power hitting and left Svitolina a sitting duck. Again, with a double break’s advantage, she wrapped up the set 6-2 to book a fourth round spot.
Can Azarenka win a major after 9 years?
The 2-time grand slam champion has looked amazing all week. It all began towards the end of last year where Vika reached the final at Indian Wells before losing to Paula Badosa in three tight sets. She then started the season with a quarterfinal outing at Adelaide International.
In Melbourne, Azarenka is yet to drop a set and has dropped just 9 games. She defeated Panna Udvardy in the first round before getting the better of Jil Teichmann in the second round. She then beat Svitolina today and will face either 4th seed Barbora Krejcikova or Jelena Ostapenko in the Round of 16. Her fourth round match will be the toughest for her so far but given her recent form, she’ll fancy her chances to make it to the quarterfinal once again.
She could then have a rematch against Paula Badosa in the quarterfinal before eventually facing second seed and countrywoman Aryna Sabalenka. The road looks tough ahead for Azarenka but knowing her, one cannot rule Vika out.
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Lakshya Chopra
(2653 Articles Published)