MADRID, Spain - Victoria Azarenka slid through her first clay court match in nearly two years, knocking out Aleksandra Krunic, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open.

"I had to adjust a little bit," she said in her post-match press conference. "It's been quite a cold weather the last few days when I've been practicing. Today was pretty hot. The ball flies a little bit more with the altitude, so there was a little bit of a time to adjust for me.

"Plus it's, like, my first match in, I don't know, two years or whatever on clay. So that's definitely not easy. But I'm happy that I could find a way to win, produce some good tennis at the moment. There is definitely a lot of things that I can improve. But it's a start."

Azarenka last played on European red clay at the 2016 French Open, shortly thereafter announcing her pregnancy and giving birth to son, Leo.

Against Krunic, it was as if the two-time Australian Open champion had never left, dropping just six points behind her first serve and breaking the Serb five times to secure victory after 81 minutes on Estadio 3.

The former World No.1 is playing just her third event of the season, having returned to tour at the BNP Paribas Open and reached the semifinals of the Miami Open to round out the North American hardcourt swing and return to the Top 100 for the first time in her comeback.

"It's a matter of time to get, again, in that tournament shape and the match shape. I feel like I'm repeating myself every tournament, but it is what it is.

"I have to play more matches. I feel that I'm moving quite well and I need to be able to do that throughout the tournament. That is only going to come with matches."

Up next for Azarenka is another former No.1 in Karolina Pliskova, who kicked off her Madrid campaign with a straight set victory over Elena Vesnina. Pliskova and Azarenka last met in Miami, where the latter won in two sets. 

"I always expect a tough match, like it was in Miami. It's going to be a little bit different scenario since it's clay. It's a pretty fast-paced clay, so in a way I think it's going to be pretty similar.

"She's not the type of player you play a lot of balls against. It's more about one, two shots, who takes the opportunity first, making a lot of returns, because she has a great serve. Winning Stuttgart, she's coming with a lot of confidence. I just need to try to focus on myself, try to be aggressive, dominate her game, and see what happens.

"But I'm here to really enjoy and see what I can do. I can't raise my expectation too high, even though I want to. I need to be patient. I think for me this year is going to be the most -- what I need to do is to be patient and give myself a break."