'These moments are priceless' - Victoria Azarenka and son Leo give moving press conference at Australian Open

ByDan Quarrell

Updated 21/01/2022 at 08:24 GMT

"Definitely not a distraction, I will never say that, but being a parent is not easy," Victoria Azarenka said of having her son Leo with her at the Australian Open in her post-match press conference after beating Elina Svitolina in the third round. "These kinds of moments are really priceless for me, so for me to be able to share that with my son is pretty incredible."

Victoria Azarenka gave a moving press conference along with her son Leo after her third-round victory over Elina Svitolina at the Australian Open.

The 32-year-old won through to the fourth round at Melbourne Park after breezing past the 15th seed Svitolina, 6-0 6-2, on Rod Laver Arena on Friday.

Azarenka, who is seeded 24th for the opening Grand Slam of the season, extended her head-to-head record against the Ukrainian to 5-0, then brought her son to fulfil her press commitments after the match.

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The two-time Australian Open winner, who will now appear in the fourth round at Melbourne Park for the first time since 2015, thanked a reporter who asked her son a question to get things underway.

"Leo, how did mummy play today?" the reporter asked.

"Awesome!" responded Leo, wearing sunglasses and smiling, along with his mum.

"[It is] definitely not a distraction, I will never say that but being a parent is not easy," Azarenka went on to explain in the press conference.

"He is full of personality - I don't know where he gets it from, obviously - but I always feel privileged to have him here.

"These kinds of moments are really priceless for me, so for me to be able to share that with my son is pretty incredible."

'What a story' - Azarenka's kind words for Alcott after beating Svitolina

As for the victory, she added: "I wanted to put as much pressure as I could on her and kind of not let her come into the match.

"She is an amazing fighter, I know if I give her a little room, she is going to get back out there so, that was my purpose today, and I think I executed that well."

Speaking about being a parent on the tour in her earlier on-court interview, Azarenka said: "Not everybody has an opportunity to bring their kid to work so for my son to be inspired by what I do is priceless to me.

"I don't like to use the words 'role model', but I try to understand I am an example in front of his eyes and try to be the best I can.

"I know that people might come at me and talk about my bad attitude at some point in life, that is true and I can only do better, but my son helps me to be better so I am grateful for that."

Highlights: Azarenka drops just two games in win over Svitolina

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