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Azarenka won at Australian Open convincingly

Wozniacki said that Azarenka played at the level from before the injury after that meeting in Melbourne. Azarenka has the game for Wozniacki, while the Dane doesn't have a win in a head-to-head match that was finished since 2010 (Azarenka had to retire twice)

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Azarenka won the title in Doha two straight seasons and didn't play here last year. She clearly likes it here and everything worked well in her match with Kerber. She served well, returned opponent's services even better and managed to keep her power up. Her shots were powerful and efficient. She lost a set to Svitolina and finished it with 21 out of the total of 34 unforced errors.

- I really needed to kick my game up a notch - Azarenka said after losing the set to Svitolina.

Svitolina played a good, tough game but it was clear Azarenka was one level better. She took advantage of Svitolina's bad serves, while losing 4 of her service games (5 break points for Svitolina) and finished with 33% of second serve points with 6 double faults. The difference in quality became particularly obvious in the third set when Svitolina's game declined and Azarenka improved her level to win convincingly in the end. 

Azarenka is to meet Wozniacki today. Their head-to-head record is 5-5 but Wozniacki have not won a single match that was finished since 2010. Azarenka was forced to retire from two of their matches, while recording three additional wins. The last one was at Australian Open this year. Wozniacki didn't know what to expect from Azarenka back then and both talked about focusing on their respective games. Azarenka won convincingly in the end and Wozniacki said:

- She is clearly feeling great here and her game is top level. She would take shots very early, mixing her rhythm, and I think she is back at the level before the injury.

In Doha, Wozniacki met Dulghera, a player who managed to make it in the main draw for the first time this season after beating Cornet. It was very clear that Wozniacki won't have 44 unforced errors like Cornet, and that Dulgheru cannot play another tough match like that. And she didn't. Wozniacki had only 6 unforced errors in the match and then Dulgeru got light-headed at 3-0 in the second set and decided to retire.

- I played well. The conditions are very different than last week. It was the first match for me and all I wanted was to get in the tournament - Wozniacki said.

She pointed out that she's happy with her year and that she's optimistic about the rest of the season and this tournament. Wozniacki lost to Halep convincingly last week and we need to point that out because Halep lost the first set after a huge number of mistakes, but as soon as she brought that number down, she started controlling the match and won easily. She was consistent, controlled her aggressiveness, and Azarenka is capable of doing all of that. Wozniacki said that the flu affected her performance after the Halep match but she didn't stand a chance against Azarenka at AO. This is what she said ahead of this match:

- Azarenka beat me at AO the last time and I will have to play my top-level game today. This is a new place, a new tournament and I hope I can do better this time.