Internazionali BNL d'Italia: Victoria Azarenka's Rome conquest begins with a win

Victoria Azarenka carried over the excellent form that had seen her win the Western and Southern Open and reach the finals of the US Open onto the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. Playing her first-round match on Wednesday, the Belarusian defeated Venus Williams in straight sets 7-6(7), 6-2 in two hours and two minutes.

In winning against Williams, Azarenka also avenged her recent loss to the American at the Top Seed Open, in Lexington in July this year. This was Azarenka’s only third win against Williams in their nine career meetings.

After the match, the three-time US Open finalist talked about adjusting to the change of surfaces. She said, “Different surface was definitely challenging, but I feel like I adapted very well. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, I knew I wasn’t going to play a perfect game today, but it was all about trying to find the right intention of what to do today. I think it worked out okay. I felt that this was a great match for me to figure it out, the first match on clay. Venus played a really good match, it was good to see her also adapting to clay, changing and trying different shots. So, I’m pretty happy.”

Azarenka will play third seed Sofia Kenin in the round-of-32. The American won their only previous match, in the quarter-finals of the Mexican Open in Acapulco, in 2019.

Internazionali BNL d'Italia: Seeds have it easy in their opening-round clashes

Among the seeded players who took to the courts, second seed Karolina Pliskova won against fellow Czech and Fed Cup teammate, Barbora Strycova in the second round. Pliskova needed 75 minutes to grab the win in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. Pliskova will play qualifier Anna Blinkova for a place in the pre-quarterfinals.

The Russian won the battle of qualifiers against Spain’s Aliona Bolsova 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4) in two hours and 22 minutes. Blinkova’s countrywoman Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, however, failed to make it to the round-of-16.

Fourth seed Elina Svitolina defeated Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 7-6(4) in an hour and 45 minutes. The Ukrainian will play the winner between Anett Kontaveit and Svetlana Kuznetsova for a spot in the pre-quarters.

Kazakhstan’s 10th seed Elena Rybakina also moved into the third round of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia on Wednesday, Rybakina beat the Czech Republic’s Marie Bouzkova in their round-of-32 meeting in straight sets 7-5, 7-6(3) in two hours and 27 minutes. Rybakina will play either eighth seed Petra Martic or compatriot Yulia Putinsteva for a place in the last-eight.

Photo Credit: Internazionali BNL d'Italia Twitter

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