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Down a double break to start her second-round match in San Jose, fifth seed Donna Vekic found her footing to defeat former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, 6-4, 6-3, in the pair’s first meeting on Thursday evening.

“She started playing unbelievable and I was a little bit slow and behind almost on every ball. I managed to get into the match just in time. I’m really happy with the way I played today,” Vekic said on-court afterwards.

Azarenka led 4-1 but troubles on her serve, including three double faults in the eighth game, enabled the Croat to level the clash and claim five successive games. The 2010 champion managed to secure an early break in the second set, though four errors, three of them unforced, quickly lost Azarenka any momentum she hoped to regain. Vekic broke for 5-3 and erased two break points to serve out the victory in 84 minutes.

“I just tried to stay in the rallies, make it a little more physical, get into the match [and] get some rhythm. I started going more for my shots, playing dvekic eeper and I think that was the key in the end,” said Vekic.

The 23-year-old is seeking her first hard-court title in more than five years, when she won her maiden WTA crown in Kuala Lumpur. Vekic has contested two finals this season, finishing runner-up in St. Petersburg and Nottingham. She will take on American qualifier Kristie Ahn in the last eight on Friday.