NEW YORK, NY, USA - Former champion Victoria Azarenka continued her winning momentum at the Western & Southern Open with a battling 6-2, 7-6(8) victory over Caroline Garcia to book her spot into the third round. 

Azarenka had to wait more than eight months to claim her first victory of 2020, after missing the first three months of the season due to personal reasons and the next five as a result of the tour’s pause amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

 Read more: Azarenka seals first victory against Vekic at Cincinnati

Coming into the Western & Southern Open, former World No.1 Azarenka was looking to get back to her winning ways ahead of the US Open. Playing just her third tournament of the year, Azarenka turned heads in her first match in New York as she romped past No.15 seed Donna Vekic in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3. 

2020 Cincinnati Highlights: Azarenka grinds past Garcia

Her second-round opponent Garcia also put together a thrilling straight-sets stunner in her own opening match, taking down the former US Open champion Sloane Stephens 6-3, 7-6(4) to book her clash with Azarenka. But Azarenka stayed solid against the French woman, winning 70% of her first serve points and firing 20 winners to eight unforced errors en route to victory in an hour and 48 minutes.  

“I think I played really well in the beginning, and obviously up until 5-2 in the second set I felt like I was in total control of the match,” Azarenka told wtatennis.com. “I had a couple of opportunities to close it out at 5-3, but I didn’t really take my chances. I felt like I went for a little too much, and I think she hit some loose hard balls and she was back in the game.”

Indeed, Azarenka was the aggressor for much of the two sets, batting away three break points and keeping the French woman under pressure. She was rewarded with three untimely double faults off of the Garcia racquet in the first set - the first two as Azarenka broke for a 4-2 lead and a third to give Azarenka the set, 6-2. 

The Belarusian made it six games in a row as she opened the second set with another break for a 2-0 lead. Garcia stopped the rot and broke back to make it 2-1, and kept herself within touching distance of Azarenka as the former World No.1 struggled to regain control of the match.

The pair traded breaks once again, with Azarenka taking a 5-2 lead and Garcia erasing it to send them into a tiebreaker. Garcia held three sets points in the decider, but Azarenka held strong to seal the victory, 6-2, 7-6(8) after nearly two hours. 

“I’m really happy I stayed strong. I felt like after I had opportunities, she came up with a big serve," Azarenka said. "But the important thing is to win and to go through that little bit of back-and forth. It was a great experience for me.”

Up next for the 2013 Western & Southern Open champion, Azarenka will face another French player in the third round as she goes up against Alize Cornet. Cornet completed a stunner of her own in the second round, knocking out reigning Australian Open champion and No.2 seed Sofia Kenin 6-1, 7-6(7) to advance.

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It will be Azarenka and Cornet's seventh career singles clash, with Azarenka seeking to make it seven victories in a row over the French player.  

“It’s obviously a little different circumstances playing her, but I’m excited to just go out and play,” Azarenka said. “I’ll try to do my best, and obviously she had a great win last night and I’m sure she feels confident. So I hope it’s going to be a great battle.