Azarenka survives in comeback match

Victoria Azarenka looked down and out when opponent Risa Ozaki served for their first-round match in Mallorca.

She seemed almost certainly headed for defeat when Ozaki gained three match points – at 6-5, 40-0 – in a second attempt to serve it out.

And she was down again in the ensuing tiebreak, trailing 5-3.

But despite not having played a competitive match in more than a year, Azarenka still managed to find a way to obtain victory.

The Belarusian’s 6-3 4-6 7-6(7) triumph came on her third match point after two hours and 44 minutes, sending her through to a second-round meeting at the Spanish tournament with No.7 seed Ana Konjuh.

The match has been suspended the night before due to fading light, with Ozaki up a break in the third set at 5-4 after having led 4-1.

“It was definitely complicated, having to stop and come back for a short amount of time,” said Azarenka afterwards. “But it was really intense because it was the end of a third set. I had a break, but the intensity of the match was at a high level right away.”

The Belarusian was ultimately pleased with the test that her first professional match since the birth of son Leo last December had provided.

“I definitely felt better on the tennis court, especially playing-wise,” she added. “I wouldn’t say I had the best preparation coming to this tournament, but mentally, it’s better to go through this kind of a match.”

RELATED: Azarenka primed for return in Mallorca

In another result on Wednesday, American teen CiCi Bellis continued her charge through the draw to advance to her third WTA quarterfinal of 2017.

After beating Carla Suarez Navarro in round one, the 18-year-old recovered to beat Mona Barthel 4-6 6-4 6-2 to set up a showdown with Kristyna Pliskova in the last eight.

Bellis reached the same stage in Dubai and Rabat earlier this year, and in Stanford and Quebec City in 2016.

Azarenka’s previous appearance on court came in the first round at Roland Garros in 2016, a match where she retired in the third set against Karin Knapp with a knee injury.

Less than two months later she announced she was pregnant, and in late December, just a few days before Christmas, she gave birth to a son, Leo.

Azarenka was initially targeting a comeback at the WTA event in Stanford, yet moved her return forward to the grasscourt season.

“I thought I was tired of practicing – I needed something to practice for,” she admitted.