Iga Swiatek marches on to title defence in Adelaide with win over Azarenka

Iga Swiatek entered 2022 with a lot of confidence after having a couple of good weeks preparing for the season with a new team. The Polish player underlined a need to return to her attacking playstyle which won her the French Open in 2020 and so far she has been able to do that. Employing a very aggressive playstyle she took on Azarenka in a match that delivered very good tennis in 3 sets.

The first set was played very well by Swiatke who face a solid Azarenka overall but still outplayed her for the most part . Both players were able to break the other player's serve but Swiatek was able to do that twice and it proved key. Azarenka really struggled on her 2nd serve as the Polish player attacked mercilessly.

The 2nd set featured a bit of a letdown for Swiatek who fell completely out of rhythm making a lot of mistakes that she did not do in the first set. That allowed Vika to take a lead and after getting a confidence boost from she did not look back. By the end of the set Swiatek finally found some rhythm but the damage was already done.

It benefited her early in the 3rd however as she jumped out to an early break completely outplaying Azarenka who once again did not know what to do on her 2nd serve. She won only 3 of 12 points and Switeak was able to close it out with 6-1. Azarenka looked injured at times as well so maybe there is something there but ultimately a great win for the defending champion in Adelaide.