“I would imagine that I’m playing in a Grand Slam, and I’m beating Steffi Graf or Monica Seles” – Azarenka recalls how love affair with tennis started

The two-time Australian Open champion is through to the round of 32 at Wimbledon

Victoria Azarenka at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships Image Credit: Chryslene Caillaud / Panoramic

July 7, 2023

After reaching the third round at Wimbledon, former world No 1 Victoria Azarenka recalled how her love affair with the game started.

The Belarusian defeated Nadia Podoroska 6-3, 6-0 on Thursday and during her press conference, the two-time Australian Open singles champion, who is back on the tour as a mother, spoke about how she often reminds herself why she started playing tennis and not to get too caught up in the cycle of results and rankings.

“Sometimes I feel like it’s very easy to lose the sight of why you started to play tennis. I would ask myself this question more if when I was younger: Why did I start to play tennis? Because you get so caught up in the results and expectations and everything. What kind of puts me also on the right track is remembering why I started to play tennis,” Azarenka said, adding that she would also give similar advice to younger girls.

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— victoria azarenka (@vika7) June 29, 2023

What kind of puts me also on the right track is remembering why I started to play tennis
Victoria Azarenka

“So to young girls, I would remind them to ask that question. It’s not because somebody told you or somebody keeps telling you what do you need to do. Why did I start to play tennis? Did I love it? Did I have fun? That’s a good thing to kind of bring yourself back into, not to focus, but to ground yourself. I always had fun. I didn’t think, okay, I’m going to become — not that I didn’t think I wanted to become the best player in the world, but it was I loved the game, I love to compete, I love to challenge myself. I would imagine when I was like 10 years old playing against the wall that I’m playing in Wimbledon or I’m playing in US Open or Australian Open, and I’m beating Steffi Graf, which I have never had the chance to play against, or Monica Seles. Those were the moments. I just loved being there. I loved winning. I loved competing. I also had a lot of fun on the court.”

Azarenka, seeded 19th, will be back on the court on Friday when she meets 11th seed Daria Kasatkina as she hopes to return to the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time since 2017.