IMAGES from Australian Open matches played at Melbourne Park on Friday
Victoria Azarenka dismantled 15th seed Elina Svitolina 6-0, 6-2 on Friday to storm into the Australian Open fourth round showing glimpses of the form that earned her back-to-back Melbourne Park titles, but the 32-year-old said she will not get carried away.
Azarenka was hampered by a persistent foot injury in 2014 then had a year-long maternity break in 2016-17. A split with her partner and a custody battle over her son that was not settled until 2018 put her career on the back burner.
The Belarusian won her first title in four years at the 2020 Western & Southern Open in New York and lost to Paula Badosa in the Indian Wells final in three sets, a match that was widely regarded as one of the best on the WTA Tour last year.
After another sparkling display that has raised hopes among supporters of a third Grand Slam crown, Azarenka said she wanted to stay in the moment.
"When you look in the past, which I don't like to do, your memory is a bit distorted. Maybe you want to remember something, you want to forget the other," the former number one, who came with her son Leo to the news conference, said.
"I try to take it day by day. That mentality, to stay in the present, continue to do what I can in the moment, that's been helping me more rather than comparing.
"That's really what I'm trying to say... that ladder I want to climb step by step. I think the danger is to try to skip a few steps. That's something I'm actually learning not to do. That's been helpful."
The 2012 and 2013 champion, who has dropped only nine games across three matches this year, was delighted with her effort against Svitolina.
"The amount of aggression I could bring point after point, applying a lot of pressure, the consistency. The breakpoints I faced, I played really strong," Azarenka, who plays French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova next, said.
"Taking control of my end of the court, that's what I'm more happy about."
Krejcikova fights back to book 4th round berth at Australian Open
French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova fought back from going a set behind to hand Jelena Ostapenko a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 defeat and advance to the fourth round of the Australian Open on Friday.
The Czech, seeded number four, clawed her way back from a set and a break down midway through the second set to see off the 2017 French Open winner.
"Today's match was really tough, really difficult. I had to really dig deep to get this win," said Krejcikova.
"I'm really pleased about it and also proud of myself. I'm never going to leave without a fight and I'm really happy that I'm able to show that on the court."
Ostapenko won the opening set thanks to a pair of service breaks and Krejcikova looked to be exiting the tournament when her Latvian opponent opened up a 3-1 lead in the second set.
However, two breaks of serve saw Krejcikova level the match.
Krejcikova was then given a time violation for returning late to court ahead of the start of the decider, claiming she was delayed due to a broken necklace.
She settled herself to break Ostapenko's serve in the first game of the final set, holding on to win and set up a fourth round meeting with Victoria Azarenka.
Badosa triumphs in baseline shootout with Kostyuk
In-form world number six Paula Badosa had to fend off a comeback from Ukrainian teenager Marta Kostyuk in an arm-wrestle of a baseline battle to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open for the first time on Friday.
Badosa had to fight right until the very last point but finally secured the 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 victory on her fifth match point after two hours and 19 minutes in the Melbourne sunshine, extending her winning streak to eight matches.
"Marta's an insane player and I think she was playing top five level today," the Spanish eighth seed said of her 19-year-old friend.
"She'll soon for sure be one of the best players in the world. I gave it all today, I had to because she was playing so good."
Badosa looked to be cruising at a set and a break up on Margaret Court Arena when her talented opponent found her range and clawed her way back into the contest.
The pair, wearing identical outfits, traded ferocious stroke for ferocious stroke from the back of the court and some of Kostyuk's shots, particularly her crunching backhands, belied her ranking of 66th in the world.
The Ukrainian's accuracy betrayed her at crunch moments, however, and she managed to convert only five of 15 break points over the contest.
Badosa also had her moments on key points and will want to quickly forget her fluffed attempt at a simple volley at the net on her second match point which ended up flying well wide of the tramlines.
The 24-year-old had cruised through the first two rounds at Melbourne Park for the loss of only seven games, riding the momentum from a tournament win at the Sydney Tennis Classic last weekend.
She will next face the powerful American Madison Keys or China's Wang Qiang for a place in her second Grand Slam quarter-final.