Azarenka Says She Is Exhausted

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 24th October 2013

Azarenka Says She Is Exhausted

epa03919405 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus returns the ball to Sara Errani of ?taly during their round robin match of the WTA Championships tennis tournament in Istanbul, Turkey, 22 October 2013. EPA/SEDAT SUNA |

World no.2 Victoria Azarenka maintains she is physically and mentally drained as her bid to finish off the year with a winning flourish at the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships in Istanbul as good as ground to a painful halt.

She didn’t mention the horrendous term ‘burn out’ and nobody else cared to bring up the subject in conversation but the intimation was clear. “It’s just the bad road, and I have to go through that, because it didn’t happen to me in a long, long time,” said the Australian Open champion. “Everybody goes through tough moments in his or her career, and the important thing is how you come out of it. I just need to battle right now as much as I can.”

Azarenka, who struggled to get back to full fitness after damaging a knee and hip at Wimbledon and then fell sick with a virus on the recent Asian swing in Tokyo, and wrongly tried to play the following week in Beijing was comprehensively outplayed in her second group match by eighth ranked Jelena Jankovic, losing 6-4,6-3.

“It’s been a long year, said the Belorussian. “It’s been a tough year. In fact it’s been tough two years. I have one more match, so it’s just going to be about that. Then there is a break, and 2013 will be over for me.”

Azarenka arrived in Istanbul short on practice after traveling to both Australia to see her boyfriend Redfoo who is appearing in a television programme, and Switzerland during the weeks in between losing early at the China Open in Beijing three weeks ago.

She said: “It’s tough for everybody but I’m not going to sit here and say that I feel perfect. You play back‑to‑back matches. It’s a little bit tiring, and, you know, all the things put together, it makes your body tired.

“It’s just mentally tough right now. Just\ tough to get things started a little bit.”

Ironically Azarenka has played fewer matches on the WTA circuit than any of the other seven singles contenders in Istanbul this week.

Topics: 10sballs.com, Australian Open, China Open, Jelena Jankovic, TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships, Tennis, Tennis News, Victoria Azarenka, Wimbledon, Wta