Facing a fellow Grand Slam champion in her fourth straight match, Victoria Azarenka blitzed past 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin 6-0 6-0 to reach the third round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. We were all aware that an upset was possible, but who would’ve expected a double bagel!
The world No.14 Azarenka has now won three of her last four matches which were all against major titlists — she beat Serena Williams in the US Open semis, then lost to Naomi Osaka in the US Open final, squeezed past Venus Williams in the first round of Rome and now needed only 61 minutes to upset third seed Sofia Kenin.
Azarenka’s first serve percentage was 93% in the 22-minute opening set and she never faced a break point, while those parameters in her game stayed at such a high level throughout the match. The second set was somewhat more competitive, as Kenin saved a number of break points in the second game, but a hold of serve was mission impossible for the American this Thursday and before long she faced a match point — guess how Azarenka converted it, with Kenin’s double fault.
In the third round, Azarenka will meet Daria Kasatkina, as the Russian defeated Katerina Siniakova 6-2 6-3 earlier on Thursday.
