Victoria Azarenka rocks a Kylian Mbappe jersey at French Open months after being FORCED to remove PSG shirt in Melbourne
Victoria Azarenka is spotted wearing a Kylian Mbappe jersey during her practice session ahead of the Roland Garros.
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Victoria Azarenka( Credits: The Mirror and @rolandgarros/ Twitter)
After her early exit from the Italian Open, Victoria Azarenka is back to compete at Roland Garros. Last year, the 33-year-old exited the major after her third-round defeat at the hands of Jil Teichmann. During her practice session in Paris, Azarenka was spotted wearing a Kylian Mbappe jersey. She was perceived as hinting at her support for the French player’s club, Paris Saint Germain.
The Belarussian player started the season with an outstanding performance at the Australian Open. But her potential title dream came to an end as she lost the semi-finals to Elena Rybakina. After the tough loss, Azarenka failed to reach beyond the round of 16 in her appearances at various WTA Tour events. At the beginning of her clay campaign, the World No. 18 faced a round-of-16 defeat at the Charleston Open.
In Madrid, Azarenka exited the first round after losing to American Alycia Parks. However, in her doubles category partnership with Beatriz Haddad Maia, the Belarussian claimed the title after defeating the ‘dynamic duo’ of Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula. At the Italian Open, the 33-year-old had a walkover in the second round of the tournament.
With the start of the French Open, Azarenka was seen practicing on the court ahead of the championship. The Belarussian player caught the attention of tennis fans when she was spotted wearing a Kylian Mbappe jersey.
Earlier in the Australian Open semi-finals, the former champion went on the court wearing a Paris Saint Germain jersey. This led to an issue as the chair umpire ordered Azarenka to remove the shirt. The two-time Australian Open champion had earlier worn the shirt to show her support for her and her son’s favorite club.
Azarenka holds the record of 21 WTA singles titles, along with two Grand Slam titles at the 2012 and 2013 Australian Opens. She became the first Belarussian player to win a major trophy.
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Victoria Azarenka called out the Madrid organisers for silencing the female players
Victoria Azarenka expressed her discontentment with the organizers of Madrid. The World No. 18 called out Madrid for denying the female players the opportunity to deliver their post-match speeches at the tournament.
Azarenka, in her first partnership with Beatriz Haddad Maia, won the doubles trophy in Madrid. They claimed their outstanding win after defeating the American duo of Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula. The accolade marked the tenth doubles title and fifth WTA 1000 tour trophy for the Belarussian player. However, the tournament did not end on a positive note for the players, as they were denied their ceremonial speeches.
In her conversation with ‘The Guardian‘, the 33-year-old cited the Madrid Open’s decision to silence the female players as ‘unacceptable’. “There’s a lot of conversations, obviously, internally, of what happened and I want to see how that develops and what are the consequences of those decisions. So that’s why I don’t want to make too many comments. I believe to give people the opportunity to figure out what’s the best course of action. Do I think it’s unacceptable? It’s absolutely unacceptable,” she said.
With the constant backlash from the competitors, the Madrid organizers issued a public apology to all the affected players. They stated that they are working with WTA to review their protocols and improve their process while moving forward.
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Tanushree Verma
(52 Articles Published)