Victoria Azarenka (Getty)
24th seed Victoria Azarenka takes on world No. 87 Lin Zhu in the fourth round of the 2023 Australian Open on Sunday.
The two-time Australian Open champion has been in fine form so far in the Australian Open. She picked up a solid win against Sofia Kenin in the first round in straight sets 6-4, 7-6 (7-3). Azarenka followed it up with a thumping win against Nadia Podoroska. The one-sided match ended in straight sets 6-1, 6-0.
In the third round, the former world No. 1 beat 10th seed Madison Keys after dropping the first set. After going down rather tamely in the first set, Azarenka produced a sensational fightback. She comprehensively won the second and third sets to win the match 1-6, 6-2, 6-1.
The 29-year-old has reached the fourth round at a Grand Slam for the first time in her career. She started the Australian Open with a convincing win against Rebecca Marino in straight sets 6-2, 6-4. In the second round, Zhu got the better of 32nd seed Jil Teichmann in straight sets 6-2, 6-2.
In the third round, Zhu faced sixth seed Maria Sakkari. The Greek star was the overwhelming favorite going into the match. However, the Chinese star produced a great performance and showed a lot of resilience to beat the world No. 6 in three sets 7-6 (7-3), 1-6, 6-4 in 2 hours and 33 minutes.
The head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 0-0 as the two players have never faced each other as yet.
Prediction: Victoria Azarenka to win in three sets.
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