Two-time champion Victoria Azarenka beat Angelique Kerber 6-0, 6-3 in the first round of the Qatar Total Open on Monday.
The Belarussian, who won in 2012 and 2013, was forced to withdraw last year due to a foot inflammation. Returning to Doha as a wild card, Azarenka needed just 66 minutes to beat eighth seed Kerber.
“I’m pretty happy with it. You know, there isn’t a lot of things to complain about, but I always try to look at things what I can do maybe better or just stay more consistent,” said the former world No. 1, who has now slipped to 48th in the rankings.
Kerber, who lost to Simona Halep in last year’s final, was blown away in the first set in which Azarenka dropped just nine points.
The German world No. 11 came back in the second set in which she got her first service break in the sixth game. However, Azarenka, playing her first match since hiring Wim Fissette as her new coach, broke back in sixth and went on to break Kerber’s serve again in the eighth to seal the contest.
Azarenka’s forehand winners proved too good for Kerber, who did not help her cause with six double faults.
“In the first set, I really stepped with the right attitude, game plan and executed it well, and in the second set I knew she was going to fight back and for me it was important to just stay consistent, and stay in the moment, still stay in command,” said Azarenka, who hopes to become the first player to win the Qatar Total Open three times.
Russian pair Maria Sharapova (2005, 2008) and Anastasia Myskina (2003, 2004) are the others to have won it twice.
Meanwhile, eight-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams of the US rolled back the clock with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 comeback victory over Casey Dellacqua of Australia.
Earlier in the opening match, Italy’s Flavia Pennetta beat Former French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in windy conditions.
“I was really happy in the way I played and fight. The conditions were really tough,” Pennetta said.
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