Victoria Azarenka advanced to the quarterfinals of the Miami Open 2024 after beating Katie Boulter. With this win, she climbed to third on the all-time list of most women’s singles wins in the WTA 1000 tournament. Only Venus and Serena Williams have more victories than the Belarusian.
After shockingly losing her first match at the Indian Wells Open, Azarenka has rediscovered her touch in Miami. She began her campaign with a three-set win against Peyton Stearns in the second round. Then, she downed Australian Open 2024 finalist Qinwen Zheng before defeating Boulter in the third round.
Azarenka entered the Miami Open 2024 with a 39-11 record in the tournament’s main draw since her first appearance in 2006. With these three wins, it increased to 42-11, the third-most main draw wins in the history of the WTA 1000 event in women’s singles. She overtook five-time champion Steffi Graf, who retired with 41 Ws in the Miami Open.
With 42 main draw victories, Victoria Azarenka is behind only Venus and Serena Williams. Both sisters are in a league of their own. Venus is second with 67 wins, a gap of 25 from the two-time Grand Slam winner.
Serena, meanwhile, leads the charts with a stunning 76 wins. Her incredible 76-9 record is a result of the American icon lifting a record eight Miami Open trophies.
Azarenka herself has three Miami Open titles, the first coming in 2009 after beating Serena in the final. She repeated the feat in 2011 and 2016, defeating Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova, respectively.
Her first main draw match win came as a qualifier in the Miami Open 2006. Ranked World No.128, she defeated World No.84 Laura Pous Tio (Tennis Abstract).
Since then, Azarenka has had a wonderful career and has written her name into the record books of the Florida-based event. However, the Williams sisters’ numbers are realistically a long way off, a testament to their humongous achievements.
Victoria Azarenka faces Kazakh challenge at Miami Open 2024
Despite her recent San Diego Open victory, Katie Boulter looked off-colour against some classy tennis from Azarenka. The #27 seed Belarusian steamrolled the Brit in the second set to inflict a breadstick after a tight opening set. She won 7-5, 6-1 to progress to the quarter-finals.
The win over 24th seed Boulter meant Victoria Azarenka beat two higher-seeded opponents in two consecutive ties since Qinwen Zheng was the #7 seed. Hence, her quarter-final tie against the unseeded Yulia Putintseva should be an easier battle on paper. The World No.68 Kazakh, though, is no pushover and has also beaten two seeded opponents.
Azarenka’s next Miami Open 2024 fixture is scheduled for Tuesday, March 26, not before 2:00 pm local time (ET). The winner is guaranteed to face a tough opponent as they will run into either Maria Sakkari or Elena Rybakina.
