Two-time Grand Slam winner Victoria Azarenka, who has reached three US Open finals, advanced to Round 3 at Flushing Meadows on Thursday, defeating Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in straight sets.
The 26th seed and former world No. 1 Azarenka started Thursday’s play on Court 17 with a 6-2, 6-3 win.
The 88-minute victory was in stark contrast to Azarenka’s Round 1 victory over American teenager Ashlyn Kruger on Tuesday. In that match, she built her 6-1, 4-1 lead, but she needed to win 3, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.
Azarenka, who also won the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013, excelled on sunny hard courts. Kostyuk hit more winners (23 to 13), but also unforced her error total (31 to 15). The stable Azarenka broke Kostyuk’s serve five times to win six straight games from the first 4-2.
Azarenka made her 13th Round 3 appearance in New York in 15 appearances. Azarenka was the only remaining major winner in the second quarter of the women’s draw, which also featured Naomi Osaka, Venus Williams, Emma Radukhanu and Jelena Ryvakina when the event began.
Azarenka’s next opponent could be fourth-seeded Paula Vadosa, who faces Petra Martic on Thursday.
Also included in this section of the draw is 2016 US Open finalist and No. 22 seed, former World No. 1 Karolina Pliskova. No. 19 seed Daniel Collins is an Australian Open finalist. Sixth seed Alina Sabalenka. Also in contention is French veteran woman Alize Cornet. She scored her 63rd main draw at a Grand Slam, beating Radukhanu in round one.
–IANS
bsk
(Only the headlines and photos in this report may have been modified by Business Standard staff. The rest of the content is auto-generated from syndicated feeds.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and that have wide-ranging political and economic impact on the nation and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our services only makes our determination and commitment to these ideals even stronger.In such a difficult time caused by Covid-19 also remains committed to providing authoritative news, authoritative views, and insightful commentary on relevant topical issues to keep you informed.
However, I have a request.
We need your support even more so that we can continue to deliver quality content as we battle the economic impact of the pandemic. We have seen encouraging responses from many users who have subscribed to Increasing subscriptions to online content helps us achieve our goal of providing more relevant and relevant content. We believe in free, fair and responsible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions will help us live the journalism we are committed to.
Supporting high-quality journalism, Subscribe to Business Standard.
digital editor