The best thing for Victoria Azarenka during her first round match at the French Open wasn’t how she played but the fact there was no pain which has been hindering her in recent months.
In a battle of the former Grand Slam champions, Azarenka ousted Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 2-6, 6-3, to record her first Tour win since the Miami Open in March. In recent months the Belarusian had to contend with a troublesome back injury which forced her out of the Madrid Open and therefore wiped away her chances of playing competitive matches on the clay prior to Paris. Before to this week, she had played in just four tournaments this season.
“In terms of physical condition, I always felt pretty good. It just was like the injury that was mentally kind of draining and definitely not helping,” Azarenka told reporters on Sunday.
The reason why her injury was so mentally taxing was due to the uncertainty surrounding what the actual problem was. Azarenka has previously spoken about wanting to keep her personal health private and that players shouldn’t have to disclose injury information to the media if they don’t wish to. Although she was happy to shed some light of the difficulties she had recently experienced away from the court.
“I was dealing with something that we couldn’t really figure out what’s wrong. It was a lot of suggestions, a lot of MRIs and a lot of stuff, but it was kind of hard to (know) what will help,” she said.
“So it was a bit of a battle. Things were getting better. Then I play and things are getting worse. So mentally it was very, very difficult. Taking decisions to withdraw and not play was even more difficult for me.’
“Now I’ve practiced for two, two-and-a-half weeks pain-free which was really encouraging. Today I was playing two-plus hours with a lot of movement, a lot of tenacity, so I’m happy about that.”
Azarenka’s setback comes after the year where she re-established herself as a top player once again. In 2020 she won the Western and Southern Open before going on to reach the final of the US Open. Then at the end of the season she finished runner-up at the Ostrava Open.
Now back to full fitness, some wonder if the world No.16 could pose a serious threat in Paris. Her best run at the French Open was back in 2013 when she reached the semi-finals before losing to Maria Sharapova.
“I always feel like I can do something at any tournament,” she said. “I think expectation is the first step to disappointment. I think setting goals and making sure that you show up with a constant effort, that is something that I will ask myself every single day. Where it leads to me, it’s really a waste of energy, but I always believe in myself. I always gonna push myself to the limit.”
Azarenka will play Clara Tauson of Denmark in the second round.
