AFP, Los Angeles :
Former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, who was playing for first time since retiring in the San Jose quarter-finals, kicked off her WTA Montreal tournament on Tuesday by dismissing Kristina Mladenovic in straight sets.
Azarenka punched her ticket to the second round with a dominating 6-0, 6-1 victory in just 55 minutes over the former world number 10.
“I feel better,” she said. “It was definitely pretty bad in San Jose to have such a sudden thing with my back.
“I was hoping it would be nothing serious, but sometimes when you’re in the moment and get a really bad spasm, there’s nothing you can do.
“I didn’t really practice much after. I’ve only had one practice session this week.”
Azarenka, who needed a wildcard to get into the Montreal draw, moves on to the second round where she will face British No.1 Johanna Konta.
Azarenka stormed through the first nine games of the match before France’s Mladenovic got on the board.
