Victoria Azarenka's son Leo reveals the hilarious secret to her Charleston Open 3R win: "I needed an ice-cream break, was too hot"

Victoria Azarenka's son, Leo, recently revealed the amusing reason behind his mother's third-round victory at the 2024 Charleston Open.

12th seed Azarenka defeated American Taylor Townsend 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 at the Althea Gibson Court to advance to the quarterfinals in Charleston. This follows her last eight runs at the Brisbane International, Qatar Open, and the recently concluded Miami Open.

The former World No. 1's match began with a hiccup as she lost the first set to Townsend. However, Azarenka regrouped and displayed a dominant performance in the next two sets to secure the match.

Following her third-round win, Victoria Azarenka spoke with Tennis Channel's Steve Weissman and was accompanied by her son Leo. Leo had previously joined Azarenka during an interview following the Belarusian's opening-round win against Elisabetta Cocciaretto.

During the interview, Weissman asked the seven-year-old for his thoughts on his mother's performance, to which Leo responded with admiration.

"Leo What did you think of your mom's performance tonight?" Weissman asked?

"Amazing!" Leo replied (at 1:53).

Azarenka then inquired about Leo's actions after she lost the first set, to which he revealed that he had gone to get ice cream to cool off from the heat at the stadium.

"I needed an ice cream break. I really needed it. I was too hot," Leo answered (at 1:59).

Azarenka then humorously suggested that her win was due to Leo's ice cream break. She further joked that she also had ice cream during the bathroom break to motivate herself to win.

"Yeah, I wish I could. That's it. I went to the bathroom and took an ice break too—an ice cream break [laughs]," Azarenka said.

Leo then shared that he had chocolate ice cream. Azarenka playfully reiterated that the chocolate ice cream was the secret to her success.

"I had chocolate," the seven-year-old said.

"He's very particular with his choices. He knows what he wants. Chocolate ice cream [is the key to victory] exactly," Azarenka added.

---

Victoria Azarenka will face Jessica Pegula in Charleston Open QF

Victoria Azarenka at Charleston Open 2024

Victoria Azarenka kicked off her Charleston Open 2024 campaign with a dominant performance, defeating Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-1, 6-2 in the second round. She continued her winning streak by overcoming home favorite Taylor Townsend in the third round to secure her spot in the quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, top seed Jessica Pegula started her Charleston campaign by defeating compatriot Amanda Anisimova 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) in the second round. She then defeated Magda Linette 6-2, 6-2 in the next round to advance to the last eight.

Victoria Azarenka and Jessica Pegula have met five times on the WTA Tour with the head-to-head standing at 3-2 in the Belarusian's favor. Their last match was in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Australian Open, where Azarenka defeated Pegula with a score of 6-4, 6-1.