French Open 2011: Belarussian Azarenka Moves Forward Past France's Parmentier

With the match between Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Pauline Parmentier of France, you can be sure the fireworks in the stands will be translated onto the court.

Azarenka won the toss and elected to receive. Seeded fourth at the French and worldwide, she takes on Pauline Parmentier who is No. 105 at the French and in world rankings.

In 2011, Azarenka is 28-8 and has a 2-1 lifetime record in meetings with Parmentier. Points start out with unforced errors by both participants, getting acclimated to the events.

As soon as the chair umpire says go, Azarenka approached the first point at net, finishing off a shallow return in her opponents court.

Whether it was because she was not ready or pushed behind the baseline with the weight of shots by Azarenka, Parmentier may have known she was in a tough situation early.

Along with her approaches, Azarenka stood a few feet inside the baseline to return serve. Victoria was on her game early, as she broke Pauline in game one.

Azarenka served next and took a fast lead. She approached the net and hit a forehand bolo for the winner, consolidating game two in her favor.

With Azarenka leading 2-0, Parmentier served in the third game with a 30-love lead. A double fault and an error is how the Azarenka lead started to grow.

At 3-0, Azarenka was fit to serve again. In game four, Azarenka rushed out to 40-0 lead. Although Azarenka was nearly playing flawless, she missed a few of her first serves.

France's own almost pulls even to 30-40 in the fourth game. But, Azarenka continued to keep moving inside the baseline on shorter balls, scoring a 4-0 lead in the first set.

Pauline was not shy, pulling Victoria off court with deep drives and staccato tennis. For Parmentier, play has not found the combination that will work best for the Belarussian.

Several deuces ensue in the next game, with eclipsing points for Azarenka. At the end of game No. 5, Victoria claims the lead five games to none.

As they struggle in the sixth game, Parmentier is showing her mettle as Victoria continues to slide and pounce on the short stuff. She takes the set in 37 minutes, 6-0.

With a first serve percentage of 67 to Parmentier’s 46, these little bits of information tell a story that cannot be understood by watching or writing alone.

As we move on to set two, keep in mind that there is a drop in intensity from both or just one of the players. Generally, it goes for the winner in set one and is based on attitude.

Some of this drop in intensity comes from the lower ranked player also, much the same way Parmentier is dropping a few short ones into the net.

Mixing her game up in search of even better ways to win, Victoria hit a drop volley on her first shot. Azarenka, receiving serve in game one is at double break point.

With matching intensity, Parmentier pulls to deuce. Azarenka dismisses the score and goes on to win the next two points at the net and on the baseline, driving the ball flat.

Azarenka breaks Parmentier in game one of the second set and is 3-for-6 on break points chances. With the second game of set two, Azarenka in up to 30-0 quickly.

On her serve, she runs up quickly to 30-0 and closes that game. Parmentier mixes up the pace and draws Azarenka into the net again.

Parmenitier is trying everything to get back into the match, which is now game point for Azarenka. On a second serve, Azarenka wins the game and holds for 2-0.

Pauline was at it once again, drawing Azarenka into the net with a drop volley. This time, Victoria did not make a 100 percent attempt and lost the point.

Parmentier holds for her first game of the set 1-2. First serves for Azarenka are around 81 percent. Losing her footing a little, Azarenka goes 0-30 on Pauline’s serve.

Responding quickly, Azarenka gets back on serve and evens the game. Azarenka next comes to the net, holding her game 40-30 and finishes the game with a set score of 3-1.

Pauline hits both short and long. A choice can be made as to which one you want more. Would you respond hitting short or a long? If you hit a ball short, it would still be in play.

If your hitting them long, you’d have not choice but to lose that point. This was much the way this match had gone for Parmentier. With Azarenka scoring, she was out to a 4-1 advantage.

No sooner does she collect a three-game advantage, Victoria gets to 5-1 on her opponents side. With double faults going to both sides, it gets amplified when you are at 5-1.

In the conclusion, Parmentier loses the first point of the game. Then the serving faults come in for Pauline, and as for Azarenka, this means a closer and closer match win.

Following, Azarenka drops the second point into the net. Parmentier follows her serve short. With a second serve, Azarenka jumps into the point and passes Parmentier.

We finally arrive at match point, 30-40 in favor of Victoria. Parmentier pulls back even again, but perhaps too late on this day, final 6-0, 6-1 Azarenka.

With three minutes under an hour, the players come up to shake hands and bid adieu till next time.