Azarenka advances at Indian Wells

Victoria Azarenka. AP

INDIAN WELLS — World number one Victoria Azarenka of Belarus survived an opening-match scare, outlasting Germany’s Mona Barthel 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (8/6) at the Indian Wells tournament on Friday.

Azarenka, who claimed her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January, moved into the third round, where she will face Svetlana Kuznetsova. The Russian advanced after Swiss Timea Bacsinszky pulled out of their match with a wrist injury.