Azarenka breezes past Oz in Doha

Victoria Azarenka breezed into the second round of the Qatar Open with an emphatic straight-sets defeat of Ipek Oz on Monday.

Playing her first match since losing to Elena Rybakina in the semi-finals of the Australian Open, Azarenka dispatched outsider Oz 6-1 6-1.

Azarenka, a two-time champion in Doha, only needed an hour and seven minutes to book a meeting with Belinda Bencic or Viktoriya Tomova.

The Belarusian broke twice in the first set and four times in the second, failing to hold just the once in a commanding display.

Quite the arrivalTwo-time #QatarTennis champion @vika7 gets past Oz 6-1, 6-1 to progress to the last 16 in Doha.Awaits Bencic or Tomova next! pic.twitter.com/VqqU1dTTCA
— wta (@WTA) February 13, 2023

Eighth seed Veronika Kudermetova battled her way past Barbora Krejcikova, winning 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-5).

Karolina Muchov secured an impressive 6-2 6-2 win over Martina Trevisan in the opening first-round match of the day.