Belarusian icon Victoria Azarenka gets visibly uncomfortable facing Ukraine-centric questions after a defeat against Dayana Yastremska at the 2024 Australian Open

It is the end of the 2024 Australian Open campaign for former champ Victoria Azarenka. The World No. 22 was up against Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska in the fourth round looking to reach the finals since winning the 2013 edition. While she was a semi-finalist last year, the wait for reaching the final continues.

Yastremska won the match 7-6(6), 6-4 in 2 hours and 7 minutes to emerge victorious on the Rod Laver Arena. The win now levels their head-to-head at 2-2. The two players are yet to play a three-setter. With the win, the World No. 93 has now achieved her best result at the Grand Slam events.

With the clash between a Ukrainian and Belarusian player, tensions were obvious to flare. The Ukrainians continue to protest against the participation of Russian and Belarusian players. They continue to refuse handshakes or hugs at the net owing to the ongoing Ukraine War. While the defeat was stinging enough for the former World No. 1, the press conference got even worse.

The two-time Grand Slam title winner was directly asked if the ‘Ukrainian’ opponent put extra pressure on her. She however chose to ignore it and gave a generic answer to not create a scene. But the press didn’t leave the topic and repeated the same question to which the Belarusian had only one worded answer.

Q. Did you have any additional pressure because the opponent was Ukrainian? How do you feel about the atmosphere of the fans? 

Azarenka: The atmosphere was good. I always enjoy playing in Australia. I think it was great. The stadium is always fun. I always have so much support here. Yeah, I wish I could have played just longer here, but it wasn't meant to be.

Q. How about the pressure? Did you feel any additional pressure because the opponent is Ukrainian?

Azarenka: Next.

commented Azarenka speaking with the press.

Since winning the title in 2013, Azarenka has managed to reach the quarter-finals only on three occasions. She has however competed only 7 times having missed 3 editions as well.

Victoria Azarenka exits the Top-30, Dayana Yastremska returns to Top-50

The win over Victoria Azarenka has massively boosted the ranking for Dayana Yastremska. The 23-year-old has a career-high ranking of World No. 21 achieved back in 2020. She had to rely on the qualifiers to make it to the main-draw of the Major.

But her entry into the quarter-finals now sees her make a massive jump of 51 places as per the live rankings. She is now ranked World No. 42 in the live rankings. As for Azarenka, she has lost 10 places. As she was a semi-finalist last year, she loses 540 ranking points.

The Ukrainian will now take on Linda Noskova for a place in the semi-finals. The Czech youngster had an early wrap to her match as Elina Svitolina was forced to withdraw mid-match.

Tennis lovers in Ukraine would be gutted to miss out on a potential quarter-final clash between two of their compatriots. Either of Noskova and Yastremska will reach their first-ever Grand Slam semi-final.

In case you missed it:

• “What the f**k!” – Taylor Fritz’s girlfriend Morgan Riddle immediately regrets keeping her promise as she couldn’t handle ‘spoonful of vegemite’
• WATCH: “You are a jerk” – Novak Djokovic ‘unnecessarily’ mocks the crowd after getting booed, fans urge him to act like Nadal and Federer

Stay Updated!

Join our newsletter to receive exclusive updates and curated insights directly to your inbox.

Subscribe NOW