WHAT HAPPENED: Victoria Azarenka went from feeling overpowered to feeling sick to feeling angry to, finally, feeling triumphant in her US Open first-round match on Monday.
Azarenka, a three-time finalist at the US Open, overcame a sluggish start and rallied to defeat Ukrainian qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1, in the Grandstand to advance to the second round.
The scoreline—particularly the final two sets—looks flattering on paper, but Azarenka had it all to do after Starodubtseva, who won three rounds in qualifying at each of the four Grand Slams this year, reeled off the first four games of the match. Even though Azarenka fought back to get the match on serve again at 3-4, Starodubtseva broke for a third time and served for the set at 5-3. The world No. 146 fought off a break point to pull out the set and move one step closer to the biggest win in her career.
During the break between the first and second sets, Azarenka, who was visibly in discomfort after a few points late in that opening frame, had her blood pressure checked by the trainer at the chair. Whatever that reading was, her blood pressure soon peaked after back-to-back double faults (two of her 10 doubles in the match) gave Starodubtseva a break-point opportunity in the third game of the second set. Azarenka disgustedly threw her racquet onto the court after the second of those double faults, and that outward expression of anger proved to be a catalyst for a turnaround; she won the final three points of that game for 2-1, the next four games to win the second set, and the final six games of the third after Starodubtseva held to begin the final frame.
WHAT IT MEANS: Azarenka retired from her Round of 16 match in Toronto earlier this summer against Peyton Stearns after going down 4-6, 2-4, and she subsequently withdrew from the tournament in Cincinnati, so her early physical struggles against Starodubtseva was far from a surprise. Her comeback to defeat the hard-hitting Ukrainian is a good sign going forward, however, as she goes into her second-round match against Frenchwoman Clara Burel, who came back from 6-0, 3-0 down to defeat 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
MATCH POINT: While her two Grand Slam victories came on a different hard court, in Melbourne, Azarenka continued to add to her sterling record in Flushing Meadows, recording her 47th career victory at the US Open in her 17th appearance in New York.
