Azarenka tops Sakkari in Berlin; Jabeur opener suspended overnight

Former World No.1 Victoria Azarenka clinched a spot in the ecotrans Ladies Open second round with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over No.7 seed Maria Sakkari on Tuesday in Berlin.

World No.19 Azarenka, a semifinalist here in 2021, needed 1 hour and 33 minutes to dismiss Sakkari and collect her fourth Top 10 win of the year. Azarenka maintains her mastery over Sakkari in their rivalry, having won all four of their professional meetings.

Berlin: Draws | Schedule | Scores

Azarenka was never broken in the match, fending off seven aces by Sakkari in the process. Azarenka won 80 percent of her first-serve points, while also prevailing on 61 percent of Sakkari's second-serve points.

"I think I had good variety with my serve," Azarenka said. "I felt like I applied good pressure on my return, keep continuously creating opportunities in the first set. Once I broke, I felt like I really stepped more on that pedal and continued to apply pressure, and closed it out."

In the second round, Azarenka will now have her first career meeting with qualifier Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey. Sonmez, a 22-year-old ranked World No.157, notched her first career tour-level win by defeating lucky loser Arantxa Rus on Monday.

Two-time Grand Slam champion Azarenka is still seeking the first grass-court title of her heavily decorated career. Azarenka's best result at a grass-court event was a run to the Eastbourne final back in 2010, where she fell to Ekaterina Makarova.

For ninth-ranked Sakkari, the defeat halts a run of good form at the ecotrans Ladies Open. Sakkari reached the semifinals of this event in each of the last two years.

Jabeur vs. Wang interrupted: No.8 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, the 2022 Berlin champion, captured the opening set of her first-round match against qualifier Wang Xinyu of China before play was suspended overnight due to rain.

World No.10 Jabeur led by a double-break at 4-1 before 40th-ranked Wang charged back to level proceedings at 4-4. However, Jabeur regained the break at 5-4 after her backhand service return was netted by Wang, and the Tunisian served out the set at love.

But while the players sat down at the changeover between sets, rain came in harder and play was called off for the day.

This means Czech teenager Linda Noskova will have to wait until tomorrow to find out if she will play Jabeur or Wang in the second round. 

Noskova bests Kerber: Earlier on Tuesday, World No.28 Noskova picked up another win over a player who has reached the World No.1 ranking, ousting German hope Angelique Kerber 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-4 in the first round.

Highlights: Noskova def. Kerber

In their first career meeting, 19-year-old Noskova battled past three-time Grand Slam champion Kerber in 1 hour and 59 minutes.

"I started [on grass] basically last year," Noskova said. "I’m still kind of trying to find the rhythm and the bounces and everything, but I think I’m getting there, getting better every day. I think my serve, I can use it, it helps me a lot. So I just gotta do what I can do."

Indeed, there was a stark disparity in grass-court experience coming into the clash. Noskova had played just four prior tour-level matches on grass in her career, winning only one of those.

By contrast, Kerber has won three grass-court titles throughout her storied career, including 2018 Wimbledon. The 36-year-old, who returned from maternity leave at the start of this season, has also reached four other grass-court finals, including 2016 Wimbledon.

But the Noskova power game was clicking in Tuesday's decisive third set, where she never faced a break point and won two-thirds of opportunities returning the Kerber second service.

Noskova continues her solid rise in 2024, having already shocked reigning World No.1 Iga Swiatek en route to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at this year's Australian Open.