“She needs a psychiatrist” Victoria Azarenka lashes out on chair umpire as Yulia Putintseva disturbs her service

“She needs a psychiatrist” Victoria Azarenka lashes out on chair umpire as Yulia Putintseva disturbs her service

Yulia Putintseva and Victoria Azarenka

2-time former champion Victoria Azarenka needed to leave it all out on the court during her opening round match against Yulia Putintseva at the ongoing 2022 Qatar Open. Azarenka, the 12th seed won the 2 hours and 48-minute marathon match 5-7, 6-2, 7-5. In one of the longest WTA matches of the season, the Belarusian showed her class once again as she rallied back from 0-4 down and saved a match point to claim the win.

It was a fiery opening day at the Qatar Open, the first WTA-1000 tournament of the season and the Azarenka-Putintseva match was the epitome of it. The quality of tennis by the two players was eventually overshadowed by the on-court drama between the two that unfolded during the third set.

With Yulia leading 4-0 in the third set, Azarenka won 4 games back-to-back to level the set at 4-4, much to the dismay of the Kazhakhstani player who smashed multiple racquets during the match. Yulia also called her trainer before the 9th game in the third set and Azarenka felt it was a tactical move to break her momentum and she expressed this to the chair umpire Marija Cicak.

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“Before my serve, she can do that. What’s the problem? She has to wait for me to serve. She threw her racquet, like, 7 times,” said an angry Azarenka who was then corrected by Cizak that she threw it 4 times and not 7. “Oh, four, four is okay. She needs a mental coach, she needs a psychiatrist,” added Azarenka who was visibly agitated by her opponent.

Victoria Azarenka to take on Madison Brengle in the second round

Victoria Azarenka
Victoria Azarenka

Azarenka after winning the match against Putintseva led out a huge roar and looked towards her box as she celebrated her hard-fought win. The two players had a very cold handshake that was clearly made just due to the formality or else neither of them was interested to engage in any interaction with another.

Azarenka will now take on American Madison Brengle who comes into the clash with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Turkey’s Ipek Oz. It will be the first meeting between the Tour veterans Azarenka and Brengle.

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