Melbourne: Victoria Azarenka, who describes herself as an “obnoxious soccer mother”, was ordered to remove her Paris St Germain (PSG) jersey at the Australian Open on Thursday before withdrawing from the Grand Slam with a straight sets defeat against Elena Rybakina in the semi-final.
The 33-year-old two-time Belarusian champion wore jerseys showing her support for French soccer champions PSG at the tournament and as a gesture to her son Leo, six, who is also a big fan of the Parisian club.
After an exchange of words with the chair umpire at the Rod Laver Arena, Azarenka took off the PSG jersey before warming up in his usual outfit against Rybakina.
“They told me to take it off twice because I had a different jersey,” the 22nd seed told reporters after losing 7-6(4), 6-3 to Kazakhstan’s Rybakina.
“I think that’s the problem with sponsors. I guess the logos are too big… I know I’m not allowed to play in those kinds of situations. I knew this stuff.
“But I can still enter the field however I want. I do it for my own reasons.
“My son wore the white jersey today at practice, and I tried to wear a white jersey at my game but I couldn’t. So it’s no big deal.”
It was the lesser of two disappointments for the Belarusian on Thursday, as Azarenka’s bid for a third title at Melbourne Park ended with some regret over her missed opportunities against 22nd seed Rybakina.
The 2012 and 2013 champion surrendered a break in the first set and only converted three out of eight break points in the match.
Leading 0-40 on Rybakina’s serve at 5-5 in the first set, Azarenka was unable to make the Kazakh pay and never had any problems afterward as her number of errors increased and his opponent’s confidence increased.
“I’m proud of the way I fought and tried, but it just wasn’t there. Tennis-wise, I felt like I wasn’t there, especially in the moments important ones where I continued to create these opportunities,” Azarenka said. .
“It’s not a great feeling to digest right now.
“But give me a few hours and I’ll probably have a better view of this month in Australia. I look forward, all year round, to what I can do.”
