NEW YORK (Reuters) – Unseeded Victoria Azarenka put fellow Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka firmly in her place with an emphatic 6-1 6-3 victory in the second round of the U.S. Open on Thursday.
The 31-year-old former world number one has twice reached the final at Flushing Meadows and signalled that she will take some stopping this year in her contest with the fifth seed.
Azarenka whipped through the first set in less than half an hour as her Fed Cup team mate Sabalenka sprayed 17 unforced errors on the Louis Armstrong Stadium court.
Sabalenka offered more resistance in the second stanza but twice Australian Open champion Azarenka was unrelenting as she set up a third-round date with Sachia Vickery or Iga Swiatek.
(This story corrects to clarify Azarenka reached the final twice, not once last year, in paragraph 2)
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney in Sydney; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
