"Whatever happens, happens for a reason" - Victoria Azarenka reflects on her last few weeks ft. controversial Wimbledon exit

Former World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka recently opened up about her recent weeks, which included a highly controversial exit from the 2023 Wimbledon Championships.

Azarenka fell to Ukraine's Elina Svitolina in the fourth round of the grass-court Major, losing 9-11 in the deciding tie-break. Both players gave it their all on Court No. 1, but it was the Ukrainian who emerged victorious with a final scoreline of 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (11-9).

Azarenka acknowledged the winner at the end of the match, and Svitolina appeared to have no reaction, but the crowd booed the Belarusian as she exited the arena.

Victoria Azarenka then took to Twitter about a week after the controversial incident, writing that she was having difficulty digesting the events of the previous few weeks.

"Hi everyone! Took a few days to digest the last few weeks. There is a lot I could say, but the feeling and thought I keep having is, when something great happens to us we usually have gratitude and say thank you," she wrote.

She quickly added, however, that everything happens for a reason. She also expressed her gratitude, stating that she would continue to be thankful for all the experiences.

"When something unpleasant happens to us we ask why and usually the thank you comes later when we see the reason why after the fact. Whatever happens, happens for a reason (I really believe that) And I want to say thank you and I’ll continue being grateful for the experiences," Victoria Azarenka wrote.

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"I haven't done anything wrong, but keep getting different treatment sometimes" - Victoria Azarenka

Victoria Azarenka in action at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships.

Victoria Azarenka addressed the crowd booing her in a press conference and expressed her frustration, saying that she continues to receive treatment like this when she has done nothing wrong.

"Yeah, I feel like it's been pretty consistent for the last 18, 19 months. I haven't done anything wrong, but keep getting different treatment sometimes," she said.

The two-time Grand Slam champion then added that her opponent, Elina Svitolina, made it clear that she did not want to shake hands with any Russian or Belarusian players, so she respected her decision.

"But what can I say about the crowd? There is nothing to say. She doesn't want to shake hands with Russian, Belarusian people. I respected her decision. What should I have done? Stayed and waited? Like, I mean, there's no thing that I could do that would have been right, so I just did what I thought was respectful towards her decision," she added.