Victoria Azarenka storms off court during match against 16-year-old at Miami Open, cites stress

Victoria Azarenka, the previous world No. 1 girls’s tennis participant, shocked followers on Sunday when she abruptly left the court docket through the center of a match on the Miami Open. 

Taking part in in opposition to 16-year-old Czech Linda Fruhvirtova, Azarenka knowledgeable the chair umpire that she was completed and stormed off the court docket within the second set as {the teenager} led 6-2, 3-0.

The choice shocked followers and broadcasters on the match in Miami Gardens. Azarenka, the No. 12 seed on the occasion, later launched a press release saying she “should not have gone on the court docket in the present day.”

“The previous couple of weeks have been extraordinarily disturbing in my private life. Final match took a lot out of me, however I needed to play in entrance of a terrific viewers as they helped me pull by way of my first match,” Azarenka stated. 

“I needed to go on the market and check out, but it surely was a mistake,” she added. 

The Belarusian skilled tennis participant, 32, is competing on the Tour with out the title or flag of her nation as a consequence of sanctions over Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, Reuters reported. She beforehand gained the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013.

Victoria Azarenka, of Belarus, returns to Elena Rybakina, of Kazakhstan, on the BNP Paribas Open March 14, 2022, in Indian Wells, California.
(AP Picture/Mark J. Terrill)

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The abrupt exit by Azarenka led the umpire to name the match in favor of Fruhvirtova, who initially admitted to being confused. Nevertheless, Fruhvirtova referred to as it an “honor” to share the court docket with Azarenka.

Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic fist-bumps former participant and TV presenter Daniela Hantuchova after defeating Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in her third-round match of the Miami Open at Onerous Rock Stadium on March 27, 2022, in Miami Gardens, Florida.
(Robert Prange/Getty Photos)

“You by no means wish to finish the match this manner, but it surely occurs. We shook fingers, after which she walked off,” Fruhvirtova informed AFP. 

Within the earlier spherical, Azarenka defeated Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova in a final-set tiebreak.

“I hope to take a break and be capable of come again,” Azarenka stated within the assertion. “I am sorry to the followers for what occurred as you have been nice to cheer for me. It was the one motive I made a decision to step on the court docket.”

“I all the time sit up for the problem and stress of competitors, however in the present day it was an excessive amount of. I’ve to and can be taught from this,” she added. “I want to congratulate my opponent and want her better of luck on this match and starting of her skilled profession.”

Final Might, Naomi Osaka, 24, withdrew from the French Open over her refusal to partake within the occasion’s obligated press appearances, citing her psychological well being.