San Jose, July 31
Former world number one Victoria Azarenka outlasted Kateryna Bondarenko 6-3 6-7(7) 7-5 at the Silicon Valley Classic on Monday to set up a highly-anticipated second-round clash with top-seeded Garbine Muguruza on Wednesday.
Azarenka took the first set comfortably but faced stiffer resistance in
the second from the Ukrainian, who battled hard against the 29-year-old Belarusian on a night when her powerful first serve lacked its usual accuracy.
Azarenka committed 12 double faults and was
broken four times but did just enough to edge the defensive-minded Bondarenko, who sent a backhand long on match point to put an end to the marathon match. — Reuters
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