Melbourne: Defending Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka has strengthened her title hopes after making into the knockout phases of the tournament following her third-round victory on Saturday.
The world number two beat Austrian player Yvonne Meusburger 6-1, 6-0 in two sets at the Rod Laver Arena and will now face American Sloane Stephens , who progressed to the fourth round following her 7-5, 6-4 win over Ukrainian Elina Svitolina.
Meanwhile, the Belarussian has revealed that her grandmother chose her name, overruling her parents` decision to name her something else.
Reiterating her love for her grandmother, Azarenka said that she is thankful to her grandmother as she persuaded her parents to call her Victoria instead of Daria, which they even put on her birth certificate, adding that the other name would not have suited her at all.
