Tournament director Richard Palmer's faith in the world's top junior, Victoria Azarenka, was quickly repaid when she beat Amy Frazier in three sets yesterday.
Azarenka, handed the ASB Classic wildcard given up by top New Zealand junior Marina Erakovic, battled all the way to beat Frazier, who was playing the
WTA circuit before the Belarussian was born.
It was a stern test for the 16-year-old Azarenka. Playing on an outside court, she raced to a handy 4-0 before taking the first set 6-4.
Comfortable playing from the baseline and scoring points off both hands, Azarenka shrugged off the frustration of some doubtful line calls to close out the opening set in 33min.
The second set was a real challenge for the youngster playing just her fourth WTA tournament. Frazier, top seed at last year's Classic, called on all her experience - she was once ranked in the top 15 - to claw back to one set-all after she broke Azarenka in the sixth, dropped the seventh on serve and eventually won 7-5 with a second break in the 12th game.
The third set was tight with the crucial break coming in the ninth game when Azarenka won four successive points. She served out for the match after being on court for just over two hours.
"It was a very hard match against a very good player," said Azarenka.
"I'm proud of myself. It was a fight from the first point to the last. I was out of my game for a while [in the second set] but I found myself again. You have to be 100 per cent all the time against a player like Amy Frazier."
Azarenka awaits the winner of today's scheduled first round match between fourth seed Maria Kirilenko and Olga Blahotova.
