Victoria Azarenka was made to work for her straight set victory against Varvara Lepchenko on Arthur Ashe Stadium today as she rallied to reach her fourth straight quarter final berth at the US Open Championships. Although the scoreline suggested that the Belarusian dominated the match, Lepchenko made it harder for her opponent during certain moments.
Azarenka starts off flying
Both women started off on serve but it was during the third game when Azarenka struck gold and broke Lepchenko at advantage. Azarenka was then able to hold all her games without conceding a break point opportunity. She further ruined Lepchenko's swing by breaking her once more in the ninth game to take the set 6-3 with a double break. Although Azarenka did not hit many winners in this set compared to her normal standards—she only hit nine—she can be happy with her serving statistics.
She was able to serve sixty eight percent first serves in and win eighty seven percent of her first serve points. Not only this, but she won forty five percent of her return points, making her game solid and well rounded. After the first set it seemed that the former finalist would run away with victory.
Lepchenko fights but Azarenka remains strong
The American was not going to be silenced so easily on home turf, and she came out strongly to break Azarenka in the first game of the second set. She could not consolidate however, as Azarenka showed tremendous aggression to break back immediately. Lepchenko was definitely improving on her return games and took the next one to deuce as well, but failed to convert her break point opportunity.
The set remained tight as both women held their service games until the eighth game, when the Belarusian struck yet again to break the Lepchenko serve at advantage. The drama was not over though, because Lepchenko emphatically broke Azarenka back immediately to stop her from serving out the match. Her efforts proved futile however as Azarenka pumped herself up to break Lepchenko's serve again to take the set 6-4 and consequently win the match.
Both women hit nineteen winners in the match, but it was Azarenka who was more consistent with her serving as well as her return games. Moreover she was able to raise her level during tough moments and showcase a lot of fight and aggression. If she can continue this well rounded level of play, she can go far into the tournament. She will play the winner of Simona Halep in the quarterfinals.