FORMER two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka saw off Zheng Qinwen 6-2, 7-5 on Thursday to reach the Adelaide International 1 quarterfinals alongside the unseeded duo of Irina-Camelia Begu and Linda Noskova.
China’s Zheng, who was named WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2022, sent down 10 aces and 34 winners but also made 35 unforced errors at the Australian Open warm-up event.
“She’s a great talent,” said former world number one Azarenka. “I feel like she’s going to be a really, really good player.
“I thought that I stuck to my game plan pretty well today . . . I was consistent, I was taking my chances when I could. I kept creating more chances. I was a lot more aggressive, a bit more comfortable today on court.”
Azarenka will next face Czech teenager Noskova, who followed up her first-round upset of Daria Kasatkina with a 6-2, 6-2 win over fellow qualifier Clair Liu.
Romanian Begu reached quarters with a 6-3, 6-0 upset of seventh seed Jelena Ostapenko, who made 41 unforced errors in an erratic display.
Begu won 11 straight games to overturn a 3-1 first-set deficit and wrap up the win in 73 minutes. She will take on fourth seed Veronika Kudermetova for a place in the semifinals.
Ons Jabeur, runner-up at Wimbledon and the US Open, will play Sorana Cirstea later on Thursday. — Reuters
