Azarenka Vows To Eliminate Medical Time Outs

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 31st December 2013

Azarenka Vows To Eliminate Medical Time Outs

epa03919404 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus reacts during her match against Sara Errani of ?taly at the round-robin stage of the WTA Championships tennis tournament in Istanbul, Turkey, 22 October 2013. EPA/SEDAT SUNA |

Victoria Azarenka is vowing to eliminate her medical time outs as she bids for the first women’s title hat-trick at the Australian Open since Martina Hingis 1997-1999. The sometimes-controversial Belarus player hopes she can play fit in 2014 and not resort to the injury pauses which called into question her concept of fair play in Melbourne a year ago.

At that time, she took a questionable “Time out ” during a semi-final win over Sloane Stephens, leaving the court with what she later claimed was a rib injury which completely disrupted the rhythm of the match and drew the crowd onto her American opponent’s side. She said at the time that the tactic helped her avoid “the choke of the century.” Reaction was evident in the final against Li Na, where the Chinese got the majority of crowd support.

The thick-skinned Azarenka is shaking it all off though: “I think pretty much now it’s left behind,” she told Melbourne’s Age from the Brisbane ATP-WTA tournament. “In 10 years, 15 years, it will never be brought up again. I have my own memories about it and nobody will ever take them away from me.

“I felt like I was the one who caught the biggest bullets for just a misunderstanding when nobody gives a benefit of a doubt, and to other players there has been such a big room for their mistakes. I think that for the future – not particularly in my case, but [it’s important] for the young players not to put them through that, because it really overshadows the sport and the beauty of what happened.”

Azarenka comes to Brisbane to start her WTA year after beating Serena Williams in a Thai exhibition before the New Year.

Topics: 10sballs, Atp, Li Na, Martina Hingis, Serena Williams, Sloane Stephens, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News, Victoria Azarenka, Wta