Victoria Azarenka celebrates b'day with win

TENNIS: World #3 Victoria Azarenka, who made her first appearance after injuring her knee at the Wimbledon Championships earlier this year, celebrated her birthday with a quarterfinal booking in Carlsbad on Wednesday.

The Belarussian recorded a 6-2, 6-3 win over French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in the second round of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).

"Just going on the court and competing was so much joy for me," Azarenka, who turned 24, quoted after the match.

"I missed playing and I was just happy to be able to do something I’ve been training for. I enjoyed the time I had to go through rehab and learn so many new things. I was excited to see how I would handle it in the match. It was a good feeling to have that platform, and I’ll just try to make it better and better now.

Former Wimbledon Champion, Petra Kvitova, also moved on to the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Laura Robson of Great Britain.

"I didn’t know exactly what to expect from myself because the first match after preparing for the US hardcourts is always difficult, plus I lost to her at the Australian Open. But this is tennis, and every day is different, and that’s how I approached the match. I played well and my serve was great today. We practiced very hard on my serve back home after Wimbledon," Kvitova exclaimed.

Overall, a great day for the top-ranked players, who breeze into the last 8 of this WTA event.