By Russell Miller
Two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka highlighted the issues of coach abuse towards female players after her third-round win in the US Open on Saturday.
The Belarusian beat Petra Martic 6-3 6-0 to reach the round of 16 but was keen to address some worrying allegations of sexual assault against tennis players’ coaches in her post-match press conference.
Earlier this week, French player Fiona Ferro accused former coach Pierre Bouteyre of committing acts of sexual assault and rape between 2012 and 2015 when she was a teenager.
Azarenka stated ‘I mean, it’s a very sensitive subject, because, you know, you won’t hear those stories unless players come out and tell those stories. It happens right and left on the tour, which is unfortunate,’ before adding that ‘if I had a daughter, I would have a question would she want to play tennis, that would be a very big concern in that way for me.’
The 33-year-old also said that young female tennis players are often emotionally abused on court in matches.
Former world number one doubles player Pam Shriver recently spoke out about the ‘emotional abuse’ she suffered during her tennis career from her late former coach Don Candy which started when she was just 17 years old, and he was 50.
Azarenka is on the WTA player council and believes there is more that the WTA should do to protect their players.
‘Our job, you know, is to be better at safeguarding. You know, as player council, it’s almost like No. 1 subject, you know, to us. Because we see those vulnerable young ladies that getting taken advantage of in different situations,’ Azarenka said.
