Inside Victoria Azarenka’s Rome bread basket
Victoria Azarenka sailed past Sofia Kenin on Thursday in Rome, producing the 10th “double bagel” of her career. Let’s take a closer look at this amazing performance.
Victoria Azarenka, Rome 2020
It’s not every day that we see a Top 5 player (and Grand Slam champion) suffer a “double bagel,” and it’s a true testament to the insane level that Victoria Azarenka is playing at this September that she was able to defeat world No 5 Sofia Kenin 6-0, 6-0 on Thursday in Rome.
Let’s have a closer look at this mean feat by the former world No 1:
It is one of 10 “double bagels” that Azarenka has handed out over the course of her career
Here is a list of all 10:
- 2008, Roland Garros Round 2: defeated Cirstea 6-0, 6-0
- 2008, Zurich Round of 16: defeated Niculescu 6-0, 6-0
- 2009, Wimbledon Round 2: defeated Olaru 6-0, 6-0
- 2011, Madrid Round of 64: defeated Dushevina 6-0, 6-0
- 2011, Toronto Round of 32: defeated Dubois 6-0, 6-0
- 2013, Doha Round of 16: defeated McHale 6-0, 6-0
- 2013, US Open Round 1: defeated Pfizenmaier 6-0, 6-0
- 2016, Australian Open R1: defeated Van Uytvanck 6-0, 6-0
- 2016, Indian Wells QF: defeated Rybarikova 6-0, 6-0
- 2020, Rome Round of 32: defeated Kenin 6-0 6,-0
In addition to her total of 10 “double bagels,” Azarenka has completed the full set, with one at each Grand Slam.
Other notable statistics from her performance:
- Azarenka made all but four first-serves on Thursday against Kenin, which means she only had to hit four second serves.
- Azarenka won 23 of 31 first serve points (74 percent). The Belarusian has won 93.4 percent of her matches (197-14) when she wins more than 70 percent of her first serves.
- Azarenka did not hit a single double fault.
She said it:
When Azarenka was told after the match how good her serving stats were and that she had only hit four second serves, she replied: “Oh those are good stats. I didn’t know that.”
“I don’t know, as I said I think I used my serve smart today. I went for bigger serves when I needed. I went for variety when I needed, so I think it was pretty good.”
She added: “I wasn’t feeling that great in my warm-up today. It worked out in the match.”
One Final Note:
According to Jeu, Set et Maths, former WTA Grand Slam champions have been bageled a total of 14 times:
14. Pour la 14ème fois depuis le début de l’ère Open, une joueuse vainqueur d’un tournoi du Grand Chelem a encaissé un 6/0 6/0 sur le circuit #WTA. #Ibi20 pic.twitter.com/DLgo1VZdpB
— Jeu, Set et Maths (@JeuSetMaths) September 17, 2020
