AZARENKA IS HAPPY TO STAY ON HER FEET
STUART FRASER
VICTORIA Azarenka walked out on No 1 Court yesterday with the enduring memory of an awkward f i rst- round f all which caused her to pull out of last year’s Championships.
The former world No 1 quickly put the thought to bed, however, with a solid 6-3, 7-5 victory over Mirjana Lucic- Baroni — t he 32- year- old who reached the semi-final in 1999.
It has been a tough year for Azarenka, who has spent time on the sidelines since a foot injury flared up at the Australian Open.
Her first win since January was a much-needed boost as she looks to rediscover the form which has made her a two-time Grand Slam champion.
Azarenka said: ‘ I’m just very happy to be able to play. This is what I love to do. The best feeling is to play pain free. That is what is important for me.
‘Getting the game together and finding the timing, it’s all a long process. But the important thing is that my focus is there. My desire and my concentration is there.’
Australian Sam Stosur has never quite got to grips with the grass, her best performances here being third-round runs in 2009 and 2011 — and it was more of the same for the 17th seed as she crashed out 6-3, 6-4 to 24-year- old Belgian Yanina Wickmayer.
It cannot have been ideal that Stosur split with British coach Miles Maclagan — former coach of Andy Murray — in the leadup to the Championships last week, although the 30-year- old refused to blame her early exit on that. Stosur said: ‘ I had some really great practices. I felt r e al l y good going i nto the match. I didn’t
think about it (Maclagan) at all. It’s something that happened.
‘I don’t have an answer because I do feel I played well. I think she played well and she stuck to it right from first point to last point.
‘I still think I’m a good enough player to get through first rounds here and, for whatever reasons, it’s not happening.’
Sloane Stephens was another top name to fall as the American 18th seed lost 6-2, 7-6 to Russian Maria Kirilenko.
The second set proved tense, with Stephens saving five match points before succumbing on the sixth to suffer her first openinground defeat at a Grand Slam since the French Open in 2011.
Stephens has found it tough going this year — the appointment of Tim Henman’s former coach Paul Annacone in January failing to produce the desired results.
She said: ‘You have to deal with it. It comes in bunches and it’s tough, but you’ve got to work through it. You have to be a big girl.’
Second seed Li Na suffered a scare as her opponent Paula Kania, a Polish qualifier ranked 183 in the world, served for the first set at 5-4. However, Kania let the occasion on Centre Court get to her — dropping serve and winning only two more games as Li triumphed 7-5, 6-2. Petra Kvitova was not hampered by the hamstring injury that forced her to withdraw ahead of her quarterf i nal with Heather Watson in Eastbourne last week. The former champion cruised through 6-3, 6-0 against Andrea Hlavackova. Caroline Wozniacki will have to return today t o complete her match with Shahar Peer. The Dane was l eading 6- 3, 2- 0 before play was suspended due to rain.