Victoria Azarenka in action against Angelique Kerber in the Qatar Total Open yesterday. PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil

By Satya Rath/Doha

The year gone by was a turbulent one for Victoria Azarenka. Injuries, depression, split with her long-time coach, personal problems – she went through it all. From world number one in 2012, she slid to a distant 48. But despite all those trials and tribulations, the 25-year-old Belarusian still managed to keep her focus and determination intact, much of which was on display during her opening round match against Germany’s Angelique Kerber at the $731,000 Qatar Total Open, which began at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex yesterday.
Azarenka won the match 6-0, 6-4.
The two-time Australian Open champion went into the match with a 3-0 head-to-head record against the feisty German, but their last meeting happened more than two years back, at the WTA Championships in 2012. The Doha event is also only her third competitive start this year, after last month’s Australian Open where she still managed to make the fourth round, and in Brisbane before that where she crashed in the first round itself.
The Qatari capital, though, has been one of her favourite hunting grounds. Leading up to yesterday’s clash against Kerber, the Belarusian was on a 10-match winning streak in Doha following back-to-back title wins in 2012 and 2013. A foot injury, which plagued her progress for much of 2014, forced her to pull out of last year’s tournament.
Her opponent, on the other hand, had spent a major part of last year among the world’s top 10. She also made the final in Doha last year before falling to Romania’s Simona Halep in the title round. It was supposed to be an interesting tussle. Rather, it turned out to be one-way traffic for Azarenka, barring for some moments in the second set.
The opening set lasted just 22 minutes. Azarenka served first, then broke Kerber’s serve in the second, fourth and sixth to pocket it 6-0. Kerber didn’t help her cause either by committing errors galore — three back to back double-faults in the sixth game that gave Azarenka the set being just one pointer.
Kerber came into her own in the next set, and slowly began asserting herself, but kept committing unforced errors again and again, and at crucial junctures. She broke Azarenka’s serve in the first game, but surrendered the advantage on her own serve. She broke ahead again in the fifth, but Azarenka fought back to snatch the advantage back and draw level at 3-3. Some erratic serving and bad volleying in the eighth handed the initiative back to Azarenka. Unlike the first set, the second was stretched to 45 minutes, but Azarenka stayed calm to extend her unbeaten streak in Doha to 11 matches on the trot.
Kerber’s exit means the event has now lost both last year’s runner-up as well as the defending champion, with Halep withdrawing at the last moment on Sunday owing to a rib injury sustained during her victory march at last week’s Dubai Classic.
Azarenka, who even did a short jig on the court after her win, was in a joyful mood. “I’m pretty happy… You know, there are not a lot of things to complain about, but I always try to look at things, like what I can do maybe better to stay more consistent. I felt like, especially in the first set, I really stepped in with the right attitude, with the right game plan and really executed it well. And in the second set, I knew she was going to fight back and for me it was important to just stay consistent and stay in the moment. Till it was three games-all I felt like I managed to do exactly that, stay focused and play consistent. Thereafter, I really took the game into my own hands and finished pretty strong again,” Azarenka said.
Was she surprised by Kerber’s errors, considering that she has been a top-10 player for more than two-and-a-half years? “You know, when I walk on the court, I don’t really expect. I sincerely try not to expect too much. It can work against you and it can work with you. So, I just try to stay in the moment and focus on what I have to do and not really get lost in what my opponent does. And I think that’s what works the best for me. I think it’s important to keep your head simple and straight and try to execute what you have set out to do,” the Belarusian added.
In the other matches of the day, Italy’s Flavia Pennetta fought back after losing the first set to down Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. Germany’s Sabine Lisicki, the 2013 Wimbledon finalist, went down to Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of Czech Republic 5-7, 4-6. American veteran Venus Williams too suffered a scare from Australian youngster Casey Dellacqua before completing a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 win.

Results (Round 1): Singles: Flavia Pennetta (ITA) bt Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 3-6, 6-4, 6-2; Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU) bt Saisai Zheng (CHN) 6-1, 6-0; Stefanie Voegele (SUI) bt Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4; WC-Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) bt Kateryna Kozlova (UKR) 6-3, 6-4; Daria Gavrilova (RUS) bt Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4; WC-Victoria Azarenka (BLR) bt 8-Angelique Kerber (GER) 6-0, 6-4; Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) bt Sabine Lisicki (GER) 7-5, 6-4; 7-Venus Williams (USA) vs Casey Dellacqua (AUS) 3-6, 6-2, 6-1; Doubles: Andreja Klepac (SLO)/Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) vs Raquel Kops-Jones (USA)/Abigail Spears (USA) 7-6(2), 6-4