Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Sports Network) - World No. 1 Victoria
Azarenka decided to pull out of the Dubai Duty Free Championships, citing a
left ankle injury, while former top-ranked star and reigning champion Caroline
Wozniacki was among Wednesday's second-round winners at the $2 million tennis
event.
The Belarusian Azarenka suffered the injury during a semifinal match in Doha
last week.
"Obviously it's very disappointing, but, I mean, it's life. It's sport. I just
have to take care of it and that's it," Azarenka said. "I take a couple of
days off just to see and hopefully it will settle down for as long that I
don't need to take a scan or anything.
"But I just need to have my peace of mind and probably will still do the same
just to make sure there is nothing really serious. But it has to be taken care
of right away."
The 22-year-old Azarenka is off to a sizzling 17-0 start this year, which
includes three titles. She captured her first-ever Grand Slam championship at
the Australian Open last month, which propelled her to the top of the
rankings, where she supplanted Wozniacki.
Azarenka, who was the 2010 runner-up in Dubai, was last week's big winner
in Doha.
Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, French Open titlist Li Na and former
Wimbledon and U.S. Open runner-up Vera Zvonareva were also forced to pull out
of Dubai because of injury or illness.
Lucky-loser Casey Dellacqua replaced Azarenka in the Dubai draw and the Aussie
promptly lost to German Julia Goerges 6-0, 6-2 in the second round on
Wednesday. Azarenka had received a bye into the second round.
The defending Dubai titlist Wozniacki blew past Romanian qualifier Simona
Halep 6-2, 6-3. The Dane topped Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in last year's
finale here.
Also on Wednesday, fourth-seeded U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur saved all
nine break points she faced and reached the third round with a hard-fought
6-1, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1 victory over Czech Lucie Safarova on the hardcourts at
Dubai Tennis Stadium. The Aussie Stosur lost to Azarenka 6-1, 6-2 in last
week's finale at the Qatar Open.
In other action involving seeds in Dubai, No. 5 Pole Agnieszka Radwanska
downed Israeli qualifier Shahar Peer 7-5, 6-4, No. 8 Serb Jelena Jankovic
handled Italian Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 6-2, and No. 9 German Sabine Lisicki
whipped Czech Iveta Benesova 6-3, 6-3. The former No. 1 Jankovic was the Dubai
runner-up in 2005.
Meanwhile, another former world No. 1 Serb and former French Open champion,
Ana Ivanovic, got past Russian Maria Kirilenko 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) and Slovakian
veteran Daniela Hantuchova dismissed Chinese Peng Shuai 7-5, 6-2 on Day 3.
Thursday's quality third-round matches will pit Wozniacki against Ivanovic,
Stosur versus Jankovic, Radwanska against Lisicki, and Hantuchova versus
Goerges.
The 2012 Dubai champ will earn $446,778.
The Sports Network