Paris, May 29: Victoria Azarenka waited until the fourth day of the French Open for her opening match, then showed she's eager to keep playing.
Filling a mostly empty stadium court with her familiar shrieks on Wednesday, the former world No. 1 beat Elena Vesnina of Russia 6—1, 6—4 in a match postponed one day because of rain. That meant Azarenka reached the second round 72 hours after some players.
The Australian Open champion each of the past two years, the No. 3—seeded Azarenka is hoping for a breakthrough at Roland Garros, the only major where she has yet to reach a semifinal.
She wore down Vesnina with her noisy but steady baseline game, committing only 13 unforced errors. Vesnina, ranked 38th, fell to 1—19 against top—five players.
