• WTA

Angry Azarenka romps past Rus

ESPN staff
October 10, 2012
Victoria Azarenka was too good for Arantxa Rus © PA Photos
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Victoria Azarenka flexed her muscles on her debut in Austria as the world No. 1 cruised into the second round of the Ladies Linz for the loss of just two games.

Azarenka, flying high after a dominant victory in Beijing last week, needed 65 minutes to storm to a 6-0 6-2 victory over Aranxta Rus. The top seed had a disagreement with chair umpire Kerrilyn Cramer but it did not distract her from powering through the opening set.

Rus offered greater resistance in the second set, breaking Azarenka to stay alive at 4-2, but it proved to be a brief hiccup as Azarenka broke straight back before coolly wrapping up the match to secure a second round clash with Romania's Simona Halep.

Eighth seed Sabine Lisicki will not join Azarenka in round two after she was comfortably beaten by Austrian Patricia Mayr-Achleitner in a shock result. Facing the world No. 159, Lisicki was expected to breeze through her opening challenge, but was broken four times by the wildcard in a 6-1 6-3 defeat.

There were no such problems for Ana Ivanovic, who was a 7-5 6-3 winner over Monica Niculescu.

In the second round, fifth seed Julia Goerges made smooth progress, defeating Romina Oprandi 6-3 6-3. Goerges served strongly and defended all four break points against her in an impressive performance.

Meanwhile at the HP Open in Osaka, top seed Sam Stosur recovered from a shaky start to defeat Virginie Razzano 1-6 6-2 6-4. The Australian will face American Jamie Hampton in the quarter-finals following her 7-5 7-5 win over Tamarine Tanasugarn

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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