Victoria Azarenka opens up on being accused of 'cheating' and anxiety after reaching Australian Open semi-finals
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Updated 24/01/2023 at 14:07 GMT
Victoria Azarenka reached the semi-finals of the 2023 Australian Open with an impressive victory over third seed Jessica Pegula. The last time Azarenka reached the last four in Melbourne was in 2013, when she left the court during her match against Sloane Stephens because of a panic attack. Azarenka has opened up on the aftermath of that incident and the comments and questions directed at her.
'I don't care!' - Azarenka hits back at those who have accused her of cheating
Victoria Azarenka said only now is she “finally over” being accused of “cheating” after suffering a panic attack at the Australian Open 10 years ago.
The former world No. 1 maintained her bid for a third title in Melbourne as she swept past third seed Jessica Pegula in impressive fashion to reach the semi-finals.
The last time Azarenka was at this stage of the tournament was in 2013.
In the semi-finals that year she suffered a panic attack against Sloane Stephens and left the court for nine minutes for a medical timeout before returning to secure her place in the final.
Afterwards there were questions over whether the use of the timeout was gamesmanship from Azarenka as she had failed to take five match points. She says the aftermath of the incident has stayed with her.
“It was one of the worst things I have ever gone through in my professional career, the way I was treated after that moment, the way I had to explain myself until 10.30pm at night because people didn’t want to believe me.
“I can resonate with what Novak [Djokovic] said the other day, there is sometimes - I don't know - an incredible desire for a villain and a hero story that has to be written but we are not villains or heroes, we are regular human beings who go through so many things, and assumptions and judgements and all those comments are just s**t.
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'It is s***' - Azarenka on need for there to be a 'villain and a hero story'
“Nobody is there to see the full story and it didn’t matter how many times I said my story, it did not cut through…it took me 10 f***ing years to get over it and I am finally over that."
She added in the same press conference:
“I have been called that I am cheating, that I am faking, trying to throw people off their game. It’s everything that is so wrong about my character if somebody actually knows me.
"I have heard [people say]: 'She has this thing [that] is bad, or this thing is bad' or whatever. At some point you are like, 'really? Am I', so those doubts start to creep in.
“Now I just don’t care. I am more and more confident with what I know about myself and I am at peace. Those comments and judgements are there and I notice them, but I don’t care.”
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'I don't care!' - Azarenka hits back at those who have accused her of cheating
Azarenka said on court after her win over Pegula that in 2022 she wasn’t “really mentally there” and “played with a lot of fear, a lot of anxiety”.
Asked about her anxiety in her post-match press conference, the former world No. 1 said: “I don’t think you recognise it straight away, I think it builds up until you hit a pretty bad spot where nothing makes sense, you feel kind of lost and I was at the point where I couldn’t find anything that I felt good about myself, not even one sentence.
“I broke a few racquets after my match in Ostrava [three-set defeat to Ekaterina Alexandrova], that was a very tough moment for me and from then I tried to take it more simple. I started with not trying to be positive and just trying to be neutral, not to go negative, accepting the anxiety and fear I have and working through it.
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Azarenka on playing with anxiety - 'I couldn't find anything to feel good about myself'
“That was step by step and I kept trying to go a little step forward, another challenge or another step forward. I learned how to build the process that is step by step instead of jumping to a conclusion or a result, and really focusing on step by step which is really hard to do I think. It requires a lot of daily work that I am doing.
“I am pretty happy that the process that I am going through makes me feel confident about myself, happy about myself and helps me to be more open, be more accepting, be compassionate, compassionate was a very hard word for me to understand.”
Azarenka next faces Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina for a place in the final.
Rybakina was an impressive winner over Jelena Ostapenko in the quarter-finals and Azarenka says she is trying to stay in the present rather than think of another Grand Slam final.
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Azarenka stuns Pegula to reach semi-finals in style - Australian Open highlights
“Too far to think about that. It’s there obviously flying around, the thoughts, but I don’t want to take my mind there, I want to focus on something that works for me and keeps me calm and at peace.
“I think that is a very important part for me, to be at peace.”
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