Victoria Azarenka battles migraines as she wins US Open

NEW YORK — Victoria Azarenka said she suffered from a migraine during her match against Clara Burel at the US Open on Wednesday, but the former world No. 1 still managed to secure a 6-1, 6-4 victory to advance to the third round.

Azarenka was in control and won the first set with ease, having won the first five games. In the second set, however, she was soon 3-1 down. She seemed to struggle in the bright lights of the Louis Armstrong Stadium.

The Belarusian player was in tears as she complained of a migraine, then called the doctor, who checked her blood pressure and prescribed her medication during a stoppage that lasted almost five minutes.

That took the momentum away from Burel, who made a number of errors after the break, allowing Azarenka to win the next four games before securing victory.

The 20th-seeded player barely celebrated her victory and returned to her chair, wrapped a towel around her head and put on sunglasses.

“I don’t know how I played the match. I just tried, you know, to hope that it would get a little bit better,” Azarenka said in her post-match interview. “I wear glasses now for a reason. It probably looks weird and uncomfortable on TV. But I have chronic migraines sometimes, and it couldn’t be a worse time to start, during the match.

“It’s just hard to deal with.”

The two-time Australian Open champion will now face China’s Wang Yafan.

Reuters contributed to this report.