"This is pathetic, absolutely pathetic" - Victoria Azarenka enraged as power outage leads to interruption during Miami Open QF

Victoria Azarenka's quarterfinal match against Yulia Putintseva at the 2024 Miami Open on March 27 got off to a rough start when a power outage at the Stadium court halted the play.

Azarenka, the No. 27 seed, was broken in her first service game. Unseeded Putintseva consolidated the break, and the Belarusian got her first game on the board afterwards.

After the first two points in the fourth game of the first set, chair umpire Marija Cicak asked both women to stop the play as she could not announce the score via the microphone or check the scoreboard due to a power outage. She conferred with the organizers about the issue via her walkie-talkie and told Azarenka and Putintseva that the match could not go forward under these circumstances.

Victoria Azarenka asked Cicak why they played the two points of the fourth game if there was no power, to which Cicak replied by saying the lights had gone down after those points. The former World No. 1 was not pleased with the disruption in play and lamented:

"This is pathetic, absolutely pathetic."

At one point, Cicak was seen escorting Azarenka off the court while the two-time Grand Slam champion continued to argue about the power outage and halt in the game.

Victoria Azarenka has dropped only one set en route to Miami Open QF

Victoria Azarenka

Victoria Azarenka has been in good form at the 2024 Miami Open and only dropped one set to reach the quarterfinals. She received a first-round bye and survived her toughest test against home favorite Peyton Stearns. The two-time Grand Slam champion required three sets to dispatch Stearns' stern challenge with the score ultimately being: 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.

Azarenka then defeated the 2024 Australian Open finalist and No. 7 seed Zheng Qinwen 6-4, 7-5, and the No. 24 seed Katie Boulter 7-5, 6-1 to seal her berth in the last eight. The Belarusian is a three-time champion at the Miami Open, having won the tournament in 2009, 2011, and 2016.

She came to Miami after a second-round exit at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells at the hands of Caroline Dolehide. Azarenka has been in good form in 2024 so far, reaching the semifinals of the Brisbane International and the fourth round of the Australian Open. She also reached the quarterfinal of the Qatar Open in Doha, losing to eventual champion Iga Swiatek.