Victoria Azarenka battles through to second round in San Jose

WTA Tour
Victoria Azarenka forehand

Victoria Azarenka is in the second round of the Mudabala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, but she had to work hard for it.

The former world number one survived a second-set wobble to overcome Kateryna Bondarenko 6-3 6-7 7-5 in what was he first WTA Tour hardcourt match since March.

“It’s a really challenging time for me and my game right now,” said Azarenka.

“You can see with my game, there’s a lot of ups and downs.

“The important thing is that I’m here, I’m fighting hard, and I try to do my best.

“That’s all I can ask of myself, but it’s not easy. Everyone expects to have results right away – I do too! – but I need to be patient, and keep working hard.

“I should have probably played better at the end of the second set.

“I didn’t get the momentum going until 5-2 down, and I started to play well, but I didn’t take my chances and let her play into the game.

“But she fought hard, got a lot of balls in, and played aggressively on important points.”

Victoria Azarenka

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