Garcia saves match points, beats Sasnovich in Guadalajara second round

Caroline Garcia

View Profile kept a perfect record against Aliaksandra Sasnovich

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The third-seeded Frenchwoman saved two match points in a come-from-behind second-round win at the WTA 1000 event, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4. 

Guadalajara 2023: Scores | Order of Play | Draws

Garcia was 5-0 against Sasnovich coming into Tuesday's match, dating back to their first meeting in 2017. But after nearly two hours of play, she was a point away from losing to Sasnovich for the first time as the World No. 89 served for the win at 6-4, 6-5. 

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But Garcia stayed positive in light of 85 unforced errors in 2 hours and 45 minutes, as she struggled to adjust to conditions at altitude in her first match of the week, and ultimately cleaned up her game in the third set. She saved a break point in her first service game and got the deciding break of Sasnovich's serve at love at 3-3. 

"We saw a few forehands directly in the wall behind [the court]," Garcia joked afterwards, "but it is what it is!" 

"I'm very happy and very pleased with the way I managed to fight at the end of the second set," she continued. "I lost a little bit my serve at the end of the first set and the beginning of the second set, but I managed to come back. It's a great win, and I definitely need wins."

Garcia moves through to a third-round meeting against American Hailey Baptiste

View Profile , who also saved a match point in her second-round upset of No. 16 seed Karolina Pliskova

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In the same quarter of the draw, former World No.1 Victoria Azarenka

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No.10 seed Azarenka had to fend off two set points at 5-4 in the second set to prevent the match from heading into a third set. The two-time Australian Open champion was able to get out of that jam before wrapping up the second-set tiebreak after 2 hours and 9 minutes of play.

"I had to adapt and fight, and that's how I got the win," Azarenka said on court after her victory.

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Azarenka, who reached the Guadalajara Open AKRON semifinals last year, will next face No.7 seed Veronika Kudermetova

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