"Smile is non-negotiable" - Victoria Azarenka sends her son an adorable message after sailing through to 2024 Australian Open 4R

Victoria Azarenka has reached the fourth round of the 2024 Australian Open and celebrated it by sending her son an adorable message.

On Saturday, January 20, Azarenka beat 11th seed Jelena Ostapenko 6-1, 7-5 at the Margaret Court Arena to reach the Round of 16 in Melbourne. She now holds a 4-0 win-loss record against the Latvian.

The former World No. 1 has become only the second player (after Serena Williams) aged 33 or more to reach consecutive women’s singles Round of 16s at the Australian Open in the Open Era.

Azarenka hit 11 aces, including three to save break points, and made 17 unforced errors (Ostapenko had 30). The 18th seed recovered from a 2-5 deficit in the second set to wrap up the contest in one hour and 23 minutes.

As is customary at the end of the match, the Belarusian signed the broadcast camera, writing:

"Hi Leo. Smile in non-negotiable. Love, mum."

The 34-year-old gave birth to her son, Leo, on December 19, 2016. Her subsequent split from then-partner Billy McKeague was followed by a long-drawn legal tussle for the child's custody, which she eventually won.

At a press conference after the match, Victoria Azarenka spoke about figuring out how to discuss mentality in sports with her son in a way that resonated with him.

"I try to find ways how to communicate with Leo because he does a lot of sports now. He obviously watches me play, how I train, what I do. I want to be able to explain to him things, how to kind of verbalize some of the emotions and the feelings that I have and I go through because he's going to go through whichever sport he kind of chooses," she said.

"I would love for him to experience and learn about his emotions and feelings, how do you don't step away from them or turn around from things like pressure, how do you face that, how do you succeed and elevate your performance. I just want to make sure that what I do and what I say kind of resonates with him as well," she added.

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Victoria Azarenka to face Dayana Yastremska in 2024 Australian Open 4R

Victoria Azarenka in action at the 2024 Australian Open.

At the age of 34, Victoria Azarenka is the oldest player left in the women's singles draw at the Australian Open this year.

With the defeat of Jelena Ostapenko, Azarenka has registered the 76th top-10 win of her career. It was also her 50th career match-win in Melbourne, making her only the sixth player to achieve that feat in the Open Era. Serena, Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova, Lindsay Davenport, and Martina Hingis are the others.

Dayana Yastremska now stands between Azarenka and a spot in the quarterfinals. Having won the last two meetings with the 23-year-old in straight sets, the Belarusian leads the Ukranian 2-1 in the head-to-head record.