Kudermetova and Azarenka reach second round

Two-time champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus yesterday exhibited an aggressive all-round game to beat Turkiye’s Ipek Oz in straight sets on the opening day of the Qatar TotalEnegries Open.Playing with fluency that was seen at the Australian Open where she reached the semi-finals, Azarenka yesterday won 6-1, 6-1 to set up a clash against the winner between Belinda Bencic of Switzerland and Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria. It was Azarenka’s eighth win of the season.Winner in Doha in 2012 and 2013, Azarenka hit the ground running against an opponent who has never won against a top-20 player before. Azarenka broke Oz, aged 23, in games four and six to race to a 5-1 lead and then held serve in game seven to close out the first set at 6-1 in just 31 minutes. An overhead lob on set point from Azarenka helped her to take a 1-0 lead.In the second set, Azarenka – making her seventh appearance in Doha – did not relent and maintained pressure on Oz as the two-time Australian Open champion broke her inexperienced opponent four times (in games 1, 3, 5 and 7) to seal the set in 37 minutes.Azarenka is one of four players to have won the Falcon Trophy twice since the tournament was first staged in 2001. The other two-time winners in Doha include Russian players Anastasia Myskina and Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic. "It feels good to be back,” Azarenka, one of four wildcards in Doha, said after pulling on her PSG football jersey that was outlawed at the Australian Open last month."I like playing here in Doha. It is a good start for me,” she added.When asked about her son, Azarenka said: "I hope Leo is watching. He is not into tennis that much (smiles). I let him do what he likes. He has got school holidays.”Earlier in the day, eighth seed Veronika Kudermetova of Russia beat Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic in three sets. Kudermetova won 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5) in a minute short of three hours. It was Kudermetova’s second win over Krejcikova in three head-to-head clashes.Kudermetova fired seven aces in her fighting win. Also yesterday Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic beat Italy’s Martina Trevisan 6-2, 6-2 in 1 hour and 19 minutes. Muchova, a fan of Roger Federer growing up, fired six aces in her dominating win.The title winner in Doha gets richer by $120,150 and 470 points after the final on Saturday.