Ruthless Barty trounces Azarenka
World number-one Ash Barty inflicted Victoria Azarenka's heaviest defeat in 14 years, with a 6-0 6-2 win at the Western And Southern Open in Cincinnati.
Barty fired 25 winners and broke Azarenka five times, needing only one hour and 11 minutes to wrap up a thoroughly dominant win.
Despite an 85 percent first serve percentage, Azarenka did not reach game point in a 26-minute whitewash first set - just the ninth bagel set the Belarusian has received in her professional career, and first since losing 6-0, 6-3 to Naomi Osaka at Rome 2018. Barty was able to control the flow of almost every baseline exchange.
Barty won the first 10 games of the match in this manner before Azarenka, taking her frustration out in powerful strikes, found an ace to hold serve. The closing stages of the match featured some valiant fighting from the defending champion and some slightly more inconsistent play from Barty, but the gulf was too great to make up.
Though Azarenka staved off two match points at 1-5 to hold for a second time, another judicious approach shot sealed Barty's third in the next game.
