Stuttgart: Belarusian Victoria Azarenka made a winning return here with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Russia’s Vera Zvonareva in what was an engrossing battle in the first round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix tournament, Wednesday.
Azarenka, a former World No.1, was pushed in the opening set, especially by Zvonareva’s first serve, but fought back to break her four times in the match. The last time the pair met was in 2011 when they were both ranked in the top 10. “
We’re both in completely different stages of our careers, we’re both moms now,” Azarenka said after the match. “I think I’m playing better than I used to before, I believe I’m much more of a complete player than I used to be. I’m in the process of building my game up again,” she added.
The 29-year-old, a two-time Australian Open champion, also had to overcome jet lag after competing in the Fed Cup semifinal in Australia at the weekend. “I have no idea right now of the time or what’s happening,” she told reporters. “The flight from Australia was so long I felt like it was never going to end! It was a huge challenge for me today (Wednesday) and I’m very happy with the way I handled it.”
Azarenka will take on fourth seed and defending champion Karolina Pliskova next for a spot in the quarterfinals.
World No.3 Petra Kvitova, who received a bye to the second round, cruised through to the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Belgian qualifier Greet Minnen in a game where she covered the court well and anticipated shots to take a quick lead.
Minnen was no match for Kvitova in the first set but found her groove in the second to test the Australian Open runner-up. However, it was too little too late for the 21-year-old as Kvitova wrapped up the match in 73 minutes.
Earlier, Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic started the tournament strongly with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over qualifier Mandy Minella. In another match played on the day, last year’s semifinalist Anett Kontaveit of Estonia breezed past France’s Caroline Garcia with a 6-4, 6-3.
