Dubai: Two-time Grand Slam winner Azarenka says her most important title is 'mum'

Victoria Azarenka had the world at her feet when she won her second straight Australian Open title in 2013. Having emerged as the strongest contender to challenge the incomparable Serena Williams, the Belarusian was poised to write a new chapter in tennis history.

But the vagaries of life threw a spanner in the works with constant injury issues forcing her to even grapple with depression.

Then a custody battle over her son, Leonard, struck a huge psychological blow as she took a sabbatical from the game.

Azarenka hasn’t been the same dominant player since she returned to competitive tennis.

But a rousing run to the 2020 US Open final, which she lost to Naomi Osaka, injected new life into her ambitions as a tennis player.

At 34, Azarenka still trains ‘day in and day out’ to chase her dream of winning a third Grand Slam and inspire her son.

The former world number one, during a freewheeling chat with Khaleej Times at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, opened up about motherhood, Grand Slam dreams and a few new 'tennis mums'.

Q. You are still playing so well, enjoying the game so much. What’s the secret? What keeps you going at this stage of your career?

The secret is my motivation to keep that drive, to practice, day in and day out. I still feel like I have big ambitions and big goals and that’s the only reason I keep playing as I want to be able to see how much I can still improve myself. But yeah, definitely, it’s been a long ride, and I want to keep going.

Q. You are 34 now and a mother to a seven-year-old. How do you keep the balance between motherhood and tennis? It’s such a demanding sport physically and mentally. Even Iga Swiatek (world number one) recently said that she can only admire how you are 'handling everything' as a tennis player and taking care of your son.

I think the balance comes in always adapting to it. When my son was younger, there definitely was a different balance, he is little older now, and he is going to school, so it makes it little bit easier for me to train and makes it a little bit harder for him to travel. I think the balance for me has changed, but mentally I have realised more that I am still able to do my job and that’s kind of a blessing for him to see what I am doing and how hard I am working and hopefully it will inspire him — if you have a dream and if you believe in something, you put your hard work in and if you have a good support system, you can achieve anything. I think there is no better example than showing it yourself. It’s definitely not an easy task, but I feel like I have embraced that and am glad that a lot more women feel more comfortable doing this.

Q. Now that he is a bit older, is he beginning to understand the amazing things you have achieved in tennis, winning Grand Slam titles and becoming a national icon in Belarus?

I think so, he does realise what I do, but for him, I am still his mum and I think that’s always going to be the most important title I have. But as I said, it’s a blessing to be able to have that ability to show what I do and what it takes to be in a professional sport. He is a very athletic kid and he wants to play sports as well, so I think that’s also a good experience to see how things work even if he doesn’t play tennis and chooses something else. I think those skills are still quite similar in other sports as well.

Q. Has he travelled to Dubai with you?

Yes, he is in Dubai now. It’s his first time in Dubai and the Middle East. And we just came from Doha, and he said it’s his favourite place now. He loved it, we go sometimes to the Bahamas on vacations, and he says that Doha is better than the Bahamas. That was a pretty interesting thing to hear from him, so I have always loved Doha, will see after a week here in Dubai, what’s going to be his experience, but so far, it’s very positive.

Q. Any places that you want to take him to in Dubai, it’s a city you know very well. You have played here many times in the past 14 years.

I think with Dubai, and even with Doha, every year you see something new. So you always come back and see how much it has evolved and how much it expands. My son wants to go to water parks, he wants to go to the roller coasters, I don’t like any of them so, it’s going to have to be my mum or dad. One of them has to accompany him to these places I guess.

Q. There are some new mums in tennis now, pretty big names (Naomi Osaka, Elina Svitolina). Any advice you may give if you happen to speak to them on motherhood?

I don’t like to give unsolicited advice, I think too many people are doing it, it’s unnecessary. But if somebody comes and asks me, I am always very open. I try to share my experience and see if that’s going to resonate with somebody, so I think that’s the best way to do it. Share what you know, share what you have been through and see how it can relate to others.

Q. Coming back to tennis, you made the Australian Open semifinal in 2023. Do you still have the dream of winning another Grand Slam?

Yes, that’s the only reason I play. I have been adapting my game a bit here and there, and I try to improve, I still think that there are a couple of things I need to be better at and I feel like I am on the right track, but there are still things that I need to improve to go further. I have been to second weeks of Grand Slams many, many times, I need to be able to switch a little bit further, and yeah, that’s definitely a goal of mine. And let’s see what happens this year.

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