An off-key Ashleigh Barty has been given lesson in consistency by Victoria Azarenka, the former world No.1 comfortably dispatching the Australian in straight sets at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.
Barty, world No.17, was no match for the two-time Australian Open winner, who won 6-4 6-2 to progress to the quarter finals.
Broken twice in the first set, Barty hung tough with one break herself but Azarenka closed out the opener on serve.
Things quickly got worse for Barty when she was broken in the first game of the second set and Azarenka enjoyed another two breaks before closing out the match.
Currently ranked No.63 in the world, Azarenka is on the comeback trail after an injury run and then timeout to have a baby.
In other matches unseeded Camila Giorgi rallied from a break point down in the final set to beat two-time defending champion Caroline Wozniacki 6-2 2-6 6-4.
The Italian finished with 45 winners to Wozniacki's 14.
It was Giorgi's third win over Wozniacki, all on hard courts, but her first win over a top-10 players in four years.
Meanwhile Johanna Konta let a big lead slip away in the second set as she was beaten by Donna Vekic in the second round.
The British No.1's fragile confidence was again to the fore as, having led 4-1 with a double break in the second set, Konta lost six of the last seven games to go down 6-3 7-5.
Croatian Vekic struggled on serve in the first set but Konta was unable to take advantage and dropped her own serve twice.
The 27-year-old looked to have turned things around in the second set, cutting out the errors and establishing a seemingly-decisive lead.
But nerves were evident as Vekic pulled back from 4-1 to 4-3 and Konta was broken to love attempting to serve out the set. She then missed more chances for another break, her forehand breaking down completely, before Vekic broke again to claim victory.
Barbora Strycova also won in three tight sets over Anett Kontaveit.
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