Belarus ‘Viktoria Azarenka burst into tears in the middle of the match and could not continue the game for several minutes, in her 6-3, 6-4 defeat by Kazakhstan Elena Rybakina on Monday in the 3rd round of the WTA 1000 d’. INDIAN WELLS.
Two days after the tears of Japanese Naomi Osaka, injured by an insult to her part uttered by a person in public, another tearful episode, just as trying and, it is clearly less and less unusual, happened to her. same central stadium.
Azarenka, double winner of the tournament (2012, 2016), burst into tears after a double error that became 2-2 in the second set.
Her hand on her eyes to prevent the tears from flowing in vain, squatting upside down as if to hide her anxiety, suddenly worried the fans, her opponent and the referee, she got down from her chair to meet her and ask her if everything was fine.
“Do you need help?” She asked, and Azarenka replied three times, “I’m sorry,” without saying more.
Rybakina then asked the referee what was going on. “I just checked that she was fine,” she replied. “Okay, but is that normal? “, Asked Kazakos then. “It’s not normal. “This is the first time this has happened,” the referee said.
The match finally started again and the former No. 1 in the world was able to finish it, rushing to leave the stadium, greeting the spectators who applauded her warmly.
It is not possible to know whether the problem was physical – a possibility because Azarenka, a finalist last year, had straps around his right shoulder – or mental, in a difficult context linked to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, whose Belarus is an ally.
As a Belarusian, like the Russians, she was allowed by the tennis authorities to participate in Indian Wells without mentioning her country and flag. Before the start of the tournament, she said on Twitter that she was “devastated” for those affected by the war and wanted the conflict to end quickly.
