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Victoria Azarenka has refused to acknowledge a question about facing additional pressure while facing a Ukrainian opponent at the 2024 Australian Open.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 has seen a rise in tension on the tennis circuits, especially on the WTA tour. Most noticeably, Ukrainian players have since refused to shake hands with Russian and Belarusian players.
Belarus aiding Russia in its invasion of Ukraine has seen players from the two nations come under added scrutiny, and the same was on display in Melbourne once again.
Two-time champion Azarenka lost to qualifier Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine in the fourth round on Monday, January 22. At a press conference after the defeat, she was asked about how the pressure and atmosphere were, given she faced a Ukrainian opponent.
The Belarusian replied that the atmosphere was great as always and expressed disappointment at not being able to go deeper in the tournament.
"The atmosphere was good. I always enjoy playing in Australia. I think it was great. The stadium is always fun. I always have so much support here. Yeah, I wish I could have played just longer here, but it wasn't meant to be," she said.
When asked to address the topic of pressure that came with facing a Ukrainian player, she refused to acknowledge it and wanted to move on quickly.
"Next [question]," she said when asked about the pressure aspect.
"Not a good day for me playing-wise" - Victoria Azarenka on her 2024 Australian Open exit
Dayana Yastremska beat the odds and registered another upset at the 2024 Australian Open by beating Victoria Azarenka.
The Ukrainian qualifier saved two set points in the first set and came back from a break down in the second set to win 7-6(6), 6-4 in two hours and seven minutes at the Rod Laver Arena.
Yastremska is the first qualifier to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal since Emma Raducanu at the 2021 US Open and the first in Melbourne since Zhang Shuai in 2016.
Considering her inexperience at this stage, the odds were heavily stacked in Azarenka's favor heading into their fourth-round clash. After facing a straight-sets defeat, the Belarusian admitted that she was disappointed to not play at her best at this stage of a Major.
"Not a good day for me playing-wise. I feel like I just wasn't able to really connect my game fully. I feel like I had a lot of opportunities still and just didn't take advantage of them. A bit of a disappointing day for sure," she said.
"I feel like just overall today, balls were a bit off timing-wise. Serves were really low percentage of first serve today. Tried to kind of get into the game, tried to get the energy up, and didn't work today. Definitely very disappointing to not be able to convert some of the opportunities to hopefully get the ball rolling a little bit better, but it happens. It's disappointing that it happened in the fourth round of a Grand Slam," she added.
Meanwhile, the 23-year-old Yastremska will next face fellow first-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist Linda Noskova.
