It is Victoria Azarenka’s mantra at this Australian Open, the start of her journey back towards the sharp end of the women’s game. It promises to be a tortuous trip, but the two-time former champion has made a fine start in 2015, booking her place in the third round at Melbourne Park with a 6-4 6-2 victory over No.8 seed Caroline Wozniacki on Thursday night.
“It’s hard to say,” Wozniacki had said of Azarenka’s chances of returning to the top 10 in 2015 in the build-up to the contest. “I think I'll have a better answer after my next match against her.” Afterwards, the Dane had a better idea.
“She's taking the ball early, she mixes the pace up – I think she's at the level that she left when she stopped playing.” Unseeded at the year’s first major for the first time since 2007, Azarenka knew she would have to compete from the moment the draw was announced. That the first round pitted her against Sloane Stephens for a third straight year, with all the excess baggage attached to that mini-series, was a quirk; that her second-round opponent would likely be Wozniacki bordered on the conspiratorial.
“I think sometimes it doesn't really matter on what stage you play,” Azarenka said of facing Wozniacki so early in the tournament. “It's probably tougher in the beginning of the tournament.
But for me I knew that I'm unseeded so I can play anybody. I just accept whoever is on the opposite side. She had such an incredible end of last season so I knew I had to step up my game and really take my chances today
I think I did that pretty well.”
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