Thriving on Grand Slam pressure

 Victoria Azarenka said Saturday she is thriving on the pressure at the Australian Open, channelling her energy to good effect as she swept into the fourth-round.

The former world number one was in ominous touch as she thrashed Japanese qualifier Naomi Osaka 6-1, 6-1 in 56 minutes on Rod Laver Arena to make it eight consecutive last-16 appearances at Melbourne Park.

It opens up a path to the quarter-finals for the Belarusian, with Spanish third seed Garbine Muguruza no longer a concern after she was shocked by Czech veteran Barbora Strycova in straight sets.

Azarenka, 27, has been in top early-season form, winning the Brisbane International and racing through her opening three matches in Melbourne for the loss of just five games.

After a torrid two years battling injuries, the 14th seed is back on a roll and is a clear threat to world number one and defending champion Serena Williams, who she could meet in the final.

"I'm pretty happy with the way I'm playing. I just want to still keep improving from match to match, because it's only getting harder from here," she said, revealing she hit the practice court immediately after the match.

"I wanted to work on couple of things. So looking for progression, it's definitely part of my mindset after any match."

Azarenka said part of her intensity and focus on court came from thriving on big-match pressure, a trait that should serve her well the deeper she goes in the tournament.

"I love it, I embrace it. Pressure for me, I think it's part of where I came from. I always had pressure," said the 27-year-old, who grew up in Minsk, adding that she had also worked on using her nerves to her advantage.

"Don't tell me nobody as an athlete isn't nervous before the match," she said.

"It's just what you do for the nerves. Do you use them for your advantage and hype you up and use that adrenaline to your power, or use it to close in and not to do anything?"

The combination was too much for Japan's 18-year-old Osaka, who has a Haitian father and has lived most of her life in the United States, and barely speaks Japanese.

She turned heads after coolly working her way past 18th seed Elina Svitolina in the second round, but the learning curve was too steep for the world number 127 against the accomplished Azarenka.

- Full volume -
Against the odds, Osaka broke to love in the first game, causing gasps from the crowd who had only just witnessed Muguruza's upset by Strycova.

But it was a minor hiccup for the Belarusian who, grunting at full volume, quickly recovered and evened up the match when Osaka sent a double-handed backhand wide.

Azarenka was just warming up and she began turning on the style with some blistering forehands and effective net work to break again in the fourth game and again in the seventh.

Osaka, who was born in the city of the same name but moved to New York as a young child, could only watch and learn from a player peaking at the right time as Azarenka wrapped up the set with a drive volley.

Azarenka remained in control in the second set and she broke the Japanese teen's first service game and held before Osaka finally won another game, earning generous applause from the crowd.     

However it was one-way traffic from there as Azarenka raced to an easy win in less than an hour.

Nicknamed "Vika" and renowned in the past for fiery on-court outbursts, Azarenka won the tournament in 2012 and defended the following year at what is her most successful Grand Slam.
Source :AFP