Garbine Muguruza Battles Past Azarenka To Reach US Open Second Week - UBITENNIS
Connect with us

Latest news

Garbine Muguruza Battles Past Azarenka To Reach US Open Second Week

Garbine Muguruza won the battle of the grand slam champions to reach the last 16 in New York.

Published

on

Garbine Muguruza (@WTAPlayerFan - Twitter)

Garbine Muguruza battled past Victoria Azarenka 6-4 3-6 6-2 to reach the US Open second week.

 

In the battle of the grand slam champions it was the Spaniard who raised her level when it mattered to reach the last 16.

She will now face Barbora Krejcikova or Kamilla Rakhimova on Saturday in the second week.

However it was last year’s finalist who drew first blood in this heavyweight clash of the titans after saving two break points, she went on the attack and broke for 2-0 using good angles on the backhand side.

The lead didn’t last long as Muguruza fought back and sealed the immediate break back as both players had success on return throughout the opening set.

Azarenka grew frustrated as the set wore on with Muguruza hitting some punishing forehands which cleaned the lines and produced remarkable depth on her grounstrokes.

The Belarusian would respond with some well constructed points and some clutch serving in crucial moments.

However it was Muguruza who was more efficient on her service games and it was her who gained the crucial break as she used her conserved energy to produce the perfect break to love.

The former Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion then sealed the set with an ace as she took the opening set in 49 minutes.

A quick response was needed from Azarenka to turn the momentum around and that was exactly what she did at the start of the second set.

Some perfect returns and aggressive forehands hit with pace forced errors from Muguruza as the Belarusian took a 4-0 lead.

The Spaniard controlled her game a little more to recover one of the breaks as 1-5 became 3-5.

Azarenka suddenly got tight on some big points with the Spaniard’s belief of a comeback starting to grow.

Although a couple of perfectly-timed drop-shots and a lucky net cord secured the set with a large roar following that as this match would go to a deciding set.

Both players started the match in tense fashion with both players saving break points en route to holding serve.

Eventually the quality of both players increased as the Arthur Ashe crowd witnessed some entertaining rallies.

The key moment was in the sixth game when Azarenka just wasn’t able to finish off her service game and was made to be punished for it as Muguruza broke in an eight minute game.

From then on it was the Spaniard who was in control as she held serve emphatically and broke again with accurate forehands to seal her place in the second week.

Another battling display from the world number one as she sealed her place in the last 16.

Next will be Barbora Krejcikova or Kamilla Rakhimova on Sunday.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Latest news

Jannik Sinner sets up a quarter final against Grigor Dimitrov in Beijing

Published

on

Jannik Sinner cruised into the quarter final of the China Open with a 6-2 6-0 win over Yoshihito Nishioka in 67 minutes at the China Open in Beijing. 

 

Earlier this week Sinner had won the first match in his career against Dan Evans in three sets. 

Sinner and Nishioka traded breaks in the first two games of the opening set. Sinner won 11 consecutive games in the first set to close out the match. Sinner now leads 2-0 in his head-to-head series against Nishioka.  

“During the first week in China I was sick, and somehow I tried to get through the first round and I knew then I would have one day off. Every day is different. I feel physically much better. I think when I have the shape of physicality, the way I play is a little bit bette Today I played well. Maybe on serve I have to improve a little bit the percentage. I think all the rest was really good today. There were key moments of this match that made my confidence grow”, said Sinner. 

Sinner set up a quarter final against Grigor Dimitrov, who beat Holger Rune 6-3 7-5. Dimitrov has drawn level to 1-1 in his two head-to-head matches against Rune, who beat his Bulgarian rival 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 in the Round of 16 at Wimbledon 2023. 

Dimitrov raced out to a 4-0 lead with a double break. Rune pulled a break back in the sixth game but Dimitrov earned his third break in the ninth game to close out the first set 6-3. 

Both players went on serve until the 12th game when Dimitrov earned his only break on his third match point with forehand drop volley winner to seal the second set 7-5. 

Dimitrov reached the quarter final for the fourth time in his eight appearances at the Beijing tournament. The Bulgarian player lost to Andy Murray in the final of the China Open in 2016.

“I have lost quite a few matches this year against against a few players like that, so I really wanted to step up a little bit more. I still felt I could have done a few things a little bit better, but a win is a win. I just need to think a little bit about what I can improve. From the first match to now I see a few things that are better, but I still believe I can top it off a little bit more”, said Dimitrov. 

Continue Reading

Latest news

Aryna Sabalenka and Anhelina Kalinina reach the second round at the China Open in Beijing

Published

on

This year’s Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka cruised into the second round with a 6-2 6-1 win over Sofia Kenin in just 67 minutes at the China Open in Beijing. 

 

Sabalenka fired 22 winners to just 9 unforced errors, while Kenis made made just seven winners. Sabalenka did not face a break point and broke twice in each set. 

World number 28 Anhelina Kalinina came from one set down to beat Marketa Vondrousova 1-6 6-4 6-1. 

Vondrousova broke three times to race out to a 5-0 lead. Kalinina pulled one of the breaks in the sixth game for 1-5 but Vondrousova sealed the first set 6-1 with her third break. 

Vondrousova came within of holding a break lead in the second set. The Czech player was not able to convert one of the three break points and dropped her serve in the seventh game. 

Kalinina lost just games in the rest of the match and broke three times to win the third set 6-1. 

Continue Reading

Latest news

Alexander Zverev reaches his 10th quarter final of the season in Beijing

Published

on

Alexander Zverev came back from one set down to beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 6-1 reaching his 10thquarter final of the season at the China Open in Beijing. 

 

Zverev won the tie-break 7-4 with three mini-breaks after a marathon first set that featured six breaks of serve. Zverev broke twice in the third and fifth games to win the second set 6-2. The German earned three breaks to seal the third set. Zverev saved the only break point he faced in the final two sets. 

Zverev has improved to 4-1 in his head-to-head series against Davidovich Fokina. The Hamburg native player avenged his recent defeat against Davidovich Fokina in Toronto. 

The German player set up a quarter final against Nicolas Jarry. 

Zverev recently reached the quarter final at the US Open and won his second title of the season in Chengdu. He is currently seventh in the ATP Live Race to Turin and could rise to fifth if he wins his third title of the season in Beijing. 

“I am happy with win. I feel like I picked up my game a lot. I played a lot of tennis in the past two weeks. I just need to recover. I need to rest”, said Zverev. 

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending