The Belarusian Victoria Azarenka broke down inexplicably in tears in the middle of the match and was unable to resume play for several minutes, in their 6-3, 6-4 loss to Kazakh Elena Rybakina on Monday (March 14) in the third round of the Indian WTA 1000 Wells.
Two days after the tears of Japanese Naomi Osaka, injured by an insult uttered against her by a person in the public, this is the second player to be overwhelmed by her emotions. Victoria Azarenkaa two-time tournament winner in 2012 and 2016, burst into tears after a double fault at 2-2 in the second set.
Hand on her eyes to vainly prevent the tears from flowing, squatting with her head down as if to hide her distress, she suddenly worried the fans, her opponent and the main referee, got down from her chair to meet her and ask her if everything was fine.
“Do you need help ?”, the referee then asked him. Azarenka only replied, three times: “I’m sorry”, without saying more. Rybakina then approached the referee to find out what was going on. “I was just checking that she was okay,” replied this one. “Okay, but is this normal?”, then questioned the Kazakh. “No, it’s not normal. It’s the first time this has happened,” said the referee.
The match finally resumed and the former world number one was able to finish it, hastening to leave the court while greeting the spectators who warmly applauded her. Impossible to know if the problem was therefore physical – a possibility because Azarenka, finalist last year, had straps around his right shoulder – or mental, in a difficult context linked to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, of which Belarus is an ally.
Inasmuch as Belarusian, like the Russians, she was allowed by the tennis authorities to participate in Indian Wells without mentioning her country and flag. Before the start of the tournament, she had confided on Twitter to be “annihilated” by the situation and for the people affected by the war. She had also expressed the wish that the conflict end quickly. This tweet is however, Tuesday, March 15, not found, the Twitter and Instagram accounts of the player being inaccessiblewithout yet understanding why.