Chinese tennis star Zhang Shuai ended her inspired run in the 2016 Indian Wells Masters after she was defeated by former world no. 1 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, during the third round of the said tournament on Monday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California.
The 27-year-old Shuai advanced in the said matchup with Azarenka when she beat another former world no. 1, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, in a tough match that went the distance, 4-6, 7-6, 7-5, last Saturday.
Current world no. 15 Azarenka was assertive all throughout the match, punctuating "almost every point won with a fist pump" to walk over her world no. 65 opponent, as reported by the Desert Sun.
Shuai managed to break Azarenka twice in the first set, but the Belarusian still pulled through to claim it without much issues. In the second, the Tianjin, China native was no longer able to duplicate her feat with the 2012 London Olympics gold medalist breaking her twice to get the easy 6-3 win.
"She's a very tricky opponent," the 26-year-old confessed following the match, via the WTA official website. "She's playing with so much confidence and so free, and it's the first time we've played each other. So, at the beginning it's always a moment of adaptation, and she returned really well."
"I felt like I didn't do enough on my service games and I had to step it up because she kept playing really aggressive and taking control. So, I'm glad I was able to put it in my hands," she added.
With her win, Azarenka will next face 31-year-old Samantha Stosur of Australia on Tuesday to try and advance to the last eight.
Azarenka had been sidelined for much of last year because of injuries and recovering from them as well. This year, she is slowly getting back into her old form, reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open last January and then advancing in the Round of 16 in this tournament also known as the BNP Paribas Open.
Shuai also advanced in the quarterfinals of this year's Australian Open, which is considered by many as a Cinderella finish already. She failed to make it past the third round this time, though.