Victoria Azarenka on Novak Djokovic: "I'm not sure how many people actually see the changes he made, it's pretty impressive"

Victoria Azarenka has heaped praise on Novak Djokovic for how he has continued to make changes to his game despite being at the top of the sport.

Azarenka is a two-time Grand Slam champion, having won the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013. She also finished as the runner-up at Majors thrice — at the US Open in 2012, 2013, and 2020.

The former World No. 1 has made a positive start to the year, reaching the semifinals in Brisbane (lost to Aryna Sabalenka), the fourth round in Melbourne (lost to Dayana Yastremska) and the quarterfinals in Doha (lost to Iga Swiatek).

In a recent conversation with WTA Insider, Azarenka disclosed that she is working on tweaking her style despite it previously bringing her success on the women's tour.

"When you have success, you become quite conservative. It’s something that you probably rely on, something you’ve learned, something that worked. And then things change. The physicality of the sport changed — balls, surfaces, players, and game styles change," she said.

"If you have an open mind and you’re able to apply that objective criticism and understand, yes, I can probably beat 90 percent of players playing my old game, with what I learned and based on experience. But there’s that 10 percent and those are at the later stages of tournaments. What do I need to be able to do to win against those?" she continued.

The Belarusian said that she sees the need to move away from the conservative approach, however difficult that might be.

"I think that really is something that I try to understand and shred those walls of that conservativeness and what I know and what I’m really good at. It’s scary. It’s not easy, because it’s one thing to understand that quite well, but another to be able to go and dare," she added.

Victoria Azarenka also stated that she is taking cues from Novak Djokovic, a player who has been adapting and making changes to his game despite being one the best.

"I'm not sure how many people actually do see the changes that he made, even technically, with his serve and some of the movements in the game. It's pretty impressive," she expressed.

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"Novak Djokovic is more relatable" - Victoria Azarenka picks Serbian over Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer

Victoria Azarenka has previously said that she could relate to Novak Djokovic.

Victoria Azarenka has always spoken highly about Novak Djokovic. Last year, she stated that she relates with the Serbian player and opined that he has been unfairly portrayed as a villain for many years.

The 34-year-old also said that Djokovic faces undue criticism, especially when compared with the likes of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

"He's been painted like a villian so many times. This is where I can understand him, where there is a double standard for some people and I think for him to maintain a good image, he needs to do so much more than Rafa and Roger," she told Simon Jordan in an episode of William Hill's Up Front.

"In my eyes and probably many many people's eyes, Roger can do no wrong. Rafa can do no wrong. Everything about them is supportive. He [Djokovic]? He is always climbing uphill. What I've noticed and I might be completely wrong, I feel like when he was younger, he wanted to be more likable and now I feel like he just stopped caring. To me, something changed with that there. He's more relatable," she added.

Victoria Azarenka is currently plying her trade at the Dubai Tennis Championships, where she beat Arantxa Rus 6-2, 6-4 to set up a second-round clash with fourth seed Elena Rybanika.