Crowd pleaser: World No 1 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus returns a ball to Slovakian Dominica Cibulkova during their exhibition match at the HCM City Lan Anh Tennis Club on Thursday. — VNA/VNS Photo Quang Nhut

HCM CITY (VNS) — World No 1 female tennis player Victoria Azarenka won the hearts of Vietnamese fans following a charismatic performance in the women's singles event at the Heineken Stars 2012 tennis exhibition at Lan Anh Tennis Club on Thursday.

Azarenka, from Belarus, beat Slovakian Dominica Cibulkova in two straight sets, playing attacks continuously against her rival to ease to a 6-2 first set victory. During the break, Azarenka warmed up the court with a short dance, receiving constant applause from the delighted audience.

Demonstrating good technique and tactics, the 23-year-old dominated the second set with a 6-3 win over Cibulkova. During the game, the Slovakian world No 13 invited one lucky fan to replace her against Azarenka.

In the men's singles event, world No 31 Feliciano Lopez of Spain enjoyed an unforgettable birthday by defeating France's Gilles Simon for the first time in his career. Although Simon overcame Lopez in the first set 6-4, the Spaniard came from behind to record a 7-5 win in the second set, before finishing the match with a 10-2 win in the third set tiebreak.

In the mixed double's event, Azarenka and Lopez beat counterparts Cibulkova and Simon 10-3.

The star-studded tennis exhibition previously has attracted many well-known players such as Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Robin Soderling and Juan Carlos Ferrero. — VNS