Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka has revealed she is taking a different approach to life on the Tour after her first round win on Monday.
Azarenka, who is the only former champion remaining in the women’s draw at Melbourne Park this year, sealed her place in the last 64 following a 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), win over Sofia Kenin on the Margaret Court Arena. Kenin claimed the title back in 2020 but since then has struggled on the Tour with injury and hasn’t won back-to-back matches at a major event since the 2021 French Open.
Now at the age of 33, Azarenka may not be as much of a dominant force compared to the past but she continues to play at the top of the sport. This year is her 15th appearance at the Australian Open where she made her debut back in 2007.
“It was a nerve-wracking match for me, for sure,” Azarenka said following her latest match.
“I feel like my game definitely was not at its best today, but I was able to find a way to win, which I think is important to do. I feel I stayed mentally strong and I kept looking for solutions.”
Despite being a veteran on the Tour, the Belarusian has decided to take a new approach to the sport in the hope that it will boost her results. She started the season by playing both WTA events in Adelaide where she reached the quarter-finals in week one before suffering a first round loss to Veronika Kudermetova in week two.
“I usually set myself some goals that I want to achieve, and most of the time they are result-oriented,” she explains. “I think it’s something that I try not to do so much and really take it step-by-step because it’s so quick to go to a finish line to think about it and your mind is racing there.
“So something that I want to try to break in little steps, and I have been working on that, and I think it helps me.”
So why make such a change at this stage in her career? Azarenka explains that she is doing so to help the mental side of her game. She has spoken openly about her experiences with mental health in the past.
The ultimate goal of this new perspective is for her to once again shine at the Grand Slam events. Besides the Australian Open, she is a three-time US Open runner-up, two-time Wimbledon semi-finalist and one-time French Open semi-finalist.
“I’m towards the end of my career and I cannot say being focused on the result hasn’t worked for me,” she said.
“But it also played big tricks for me mentally after you haven’t achieved your expectations, or what you wanted. [That is] kind of a hard hole to recover from.
“I would say I think of myself like I’m taking baby steps and really work on my intentions and what I want to do.
“I just didn’t want to judge ‘Can I do it?’ or ‘Can I not do it?’ I just try to see what happens. That is a pretty big win (for me).”
Azarenka will play Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska in the second round on Wednesday.
