Victoria Azarenka moves on as Linette retires in Indian Wells

Saturday, 09 October 2021 at 00:15

Victoria Azarenka is through to the next round of the BNP Paribas Open after Magda Linette retired from the match with injury.

Victoria Azarenka won her first match at the Indian Wells Masters and it is a good result for Azarenka who did not play too well in this match. Before the Indian Wells Masters, she played in Chicago where she herself withdrew ahead of the match for undisclosed reasons. Today she was on the other hand moving on after her opponent retired from the match.

But before her opponent retired from the match Azarenka was in a lot of trouble. The start of the match was very shaky by Azarenka who could not match the shot-making ability of Linette. Azarenka also struggled to return the ball, with many often landing quite shallow in the field. With the high bounce of the court, it allowed Linette to set up nicely and blast away.

Read also

2021 BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells WTA Prize Money with a total of $8,761,725 on offer

The Polish player had a 5-2 lead before Azarenka mounted a comeback against Linette whose player eroded quickly. After losing her serve to give Azarenka a 5-6 lead Linette called a MTO but resumed the match. She lost the next game losing the set and fell behind 0-3 rather quickly. It was then that she decided to retire after losing 8 straight games.