By Erik Gudris | Monday, February 8, 2021
American Jessica Pegula won her first career Australian Open match over former two-time champion Victoria Azarenka.
Photo Credit: Tennis Australia/Natasha Morello
American Jessica Pegula completed a surprise upset for her first ever Australian Open win over 12th-seeded Victoria Azarenka, a former two-time champion of the event.
Pegula managed to overcome a first set deficit before closing out the 7-5, 6-4 victory—her first at a major over a Top 40 player.
Facing former Australian Open champions is nothing new for Pegula. She recently lost in three sets to the reigning Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin at the warm-up Yarra Valley Classic event.
“I’ve been playing well the last few weeks," Pegula said. "I lost a tough one to Sofia Kenin last week so I know that my level’s been there. It’s just knowing going out believing I could win.
"It was tough at the end, obviously she wasn’t feeling well. Sometimes that makes it harder so I just kept my head down and not worry too much about who I was playing.”
Pegula, currently ranked No. 61, battled back in the first set. Azarenka once led 5-2 and held a set point. Yet Pegula denied that opportunity, broke serve, and then went on to later close out the set. 7-5.
Both women stayed very close with each other in terms of the number of winners and unforced errors throughout the first round encounter. But it was Azarenka, a former finalist at last year’s US Open, who didn’t look comfortable at all as the match wore on.
The former world No. 1 served two weeks of hard quarantine in a Melbourne hotel and like fellow major champion Angelique Kerber, who fell in the opening round yesteday, she suffered some energy lapses.
"Of course, it has impacted. Somebody who's coming out of hard quarantine and maybe has been able to adjust well, they'll go, Oh, maybe it hasn't impacted," Azarenka said. "Somebody who lost early will say, Yeah, of course, it's impacted. It would be hard to say,
"Was that the best preparation for me? No. But try to sit here and find an excuse because of quarantine and this is just something that, as I said, it is what it is. I am disappointed that I wasn't able to perform that I knew I could. That's a bit hard to accept today because I knew I can play better, a lot better. At the same time I feel that I've tried everything I can to be able to be prepared, but unfortunately that hasn't worked out for me."
Azarenka, late in the second set while trailing 2-4, appeared to be in physical distress. Looking short of breath, she leaned over a backstop at the far end of Margaret Court Arena. After trainers rushed over to Azarenka, she later went off court for a medical time out.
Azarenka returned to the court and managed to hold serve for 3-4.
The former World No. 1 showed more signs of life by breaking Pegula for 4-all. But that would be the last bit of hope for Azarenka who dropped serve once again.
Soon, Pegula found herself celebrating the 7-5, 6-4 victory. She awaits the winner of Destanee Aiava and Sam Stosur for her next match.