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18 2GS Saturday September 12 2020 | the times
Victoria Azarenka has understandably
given little away during this US Open
fortnight when the subject of the
acrimonious custody dispute involving
her three-year-old son, Leo, has been
broached by reporters. Only brief
comments here and there have alluded
to the personal difficulties that she
faced in a saga that lasted for more than
two years.
“I’ll tell you one thing,” the former
world No 1 from Belarus said this week.
“From last year’s November through to
January, I can write three books of what
has happened to me.”
More details may follow one day but
it is clear that the eventual resolution of
Azarenka’s issues with her ex-partner
Billy McKeague, a former American ice
hockey player, has helped her to at last
rediscover the level of play that led her
to win back-to-back Australian Opens
in 2012 and 2013. Unbeaten since
arriving in New York — she won the
Western & Southern Open warm-up
event — the 31-year-old beat Serena
Williams 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 in yesterday’s
semi-final and has the opportunity to
cap a momentous few weeks in today’s
US Open final against Naomi Osaka.
The Japanese beat Jennifer Brady 7-
(7-1), 3-6, 6-3 in the other semi-final.
If Azarenka, the world No 27, is
victorious, she would join Margaret
Court, Evonne Goolagong Cawley and
Kim Clijsters as the only mothers to win
a grand-slam singles title in the open
era. This was her aim when she
returned to the tour in 2017, but events
in the immediate aftermath of Wimble-
don that summer were to start what one
of her former coaches described as a
long period of “living hell”.
Azarenka initially made an impress-
ive return. In only her second tourna-
ment back at the All England Club, she
reached the round of 16 and pushed the
world No 2 Simona Halep hard before
bowing out. But the delight soon turned
to dismay when she split with
McKeague, for reasons that are
unclear, in the following days. A month
calls for social justice have rightly
received more attention than her
tennis. During the summer, the
22-year-old — who was brought up in
Florida — flew to Minneapolis to
support the Black Lives Matter protestsin the aftermath of the George Floyd
killing, and she has continued to use her
powerful profile upon her return to the
tour. She has worn facemasks featuring
the names of black victims of alleged
police violence or racism before each of
her US Open matches, and was
admirably the only tennis player to
initially join in with the US sport
boycott a fortnight ago, before organis-
ers of the Western & Southern Open
subsequently cancelled play for a day.
“It was an easy decision for her to
withdraw in many ways,” Stuart
Duguid, Osaka’s Scottish agent, said.
“But to execute it was very emotional
and not easy in the slightest.
“I’m full of pride and admiration for
how courageous that move was. Naomi
often looks to the NBA to set the
standard on social issues, and when
they paused it was clear that she would
take inspiration from them.”Azarenka
ready to give
soap opera
happy ending
later, she withdrew from the US Open.
The custody battle had already
started by this point and, unable to
leave the state of California where she
lived with Leo, Azarenka did not appear
on tour again until March 2018.
Her performances inevitably
suffered, to the point where she broke
down in tears in front of the press after
a first-round defeat at last year’s
Australian Open. Melbourne had been
such a happy hunting ground for her in
the past that this early loss brought
particular despondency. Later in the
year she considered hanging up her
racket.
“In my head, with the situations I had
to go through, I thought that I’m going
to stop,” Azarenka said. “If the conse-
quences of a certain situation were
going to turn out one way, I was ready to
stop. But they turned out a different
way and I made a really conscious
decision to try one more time to play.
“I was pretty ready to stop. I didn’t
touch a racket for about five months,
before the pandemic.”
It is unknown when exactly the
dispute was settled, but it is clear that
Azarenka is in a much-improved frame
of mind now. Television footage has
shown her relaxing with Leo on the
balcony of her private locker room
inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, and she
has rented a private home where her
mother, Alla, is in charge of the
cooking. It has had an obvious impact
on her performances, as seen on
Thursday night when she defeated
Williams in the semi-finals.
“Now she’s really relaxed on the
court,” Dorian Descloix, Azarenka’s
French coach, said. “When she’s here,
she’s like Victoria the tennis player.
When she goes back at home to our
house in Long Island, she’s like a
mother. It’s working pretty well.”
Today’s final is the intriguing
match-up we were denied two weeks
ago when Osaka, the world No 9, pulled
out before the Western & Southern
Open final against Azarenka because of
a hamstring problem. The two-times
grand-slam champion from Japan has
clearly suffered no lasting effects.
In recent weeks, however, Osaka’sStuart Fraser
Tennis Correspondent
August 2020, Cincinnati Masters
Victoria Azarenka bt Naomi Osaka
w/oMay 2019, Roland Garros
Osaka bt Azarenka 4-6, 7-5, 6-May 2018, Rome Masters
Osaka bt Azarenka 6-0, 6-January 2016, Australian Open
Azarenka bt Osaka 6-1, 6-Head to head
For a report on tonight’s semi-finals
— Alexander Zverev v Pablo Carreño
Busta and Dominic Thiem v Daniil
Medvedev — go to thetimes.co.ukWho will reach the
US Open men’s final?If there is anything to comfort Serena
Williams after she again came up short
in her bid to equal Margaret Court’s
record of 24 grand-slam singles titles, it
is that the next opportunity is just
around the corner.
The French Open starts two weeks
on Monday, and the change in
Williams’s approach to it was evident
about half an hour after losing in the
semi-finals of the US Open. Earlier this
week, the 38-year-old had publicly
complained that the designation of two
During her run to the US Open final,
Naomi Osaka has walked out on to
the court wearing face masks with
different names to draw attention to
victims of racial injustice in the
United States (writes Stuart Fraser).
First round Breonna Taylor
The unarmed 26-year-old
emergency medical technician was
shot dead by police executing a no-
knock warrant, as part of a drugs
investigation, at her apartment in
Louisville, Kentucky on March 13.
Second round Elijah McClain
The 23-year-old was walking
unarmed in Aurora, Colorado, on
August 24 last year when he was
stopped by three police officers and
searched for a weapon. A struggle
ensued and he died in custody.
Third round Ahmaud Arbery
The unarmed 25-year-old was
pursued in a pick-up truck and
shot dead by two white men — a
father and son — while he was out
jogging in Brunswick, Georgia, on
February 23.
Fourth round Trayvon Martin
The 17-year-old, who was unarmed,
had visited a convenience store in
Sanford, Florida, on February 26,
2012, to buy some items.
Afterwards, he was shot dead by a
white neighbourhood watch
volunteer who believed Martin was
“up to no good”.
Quarter-final George Floyd
On May 25 this year, the unarmed
46-year-old was stopped by
Minneapolis police investigating the
use of counterfeit money. A white
policeman pinned him to the
ground and kneeled on his neck for
almost nine minutes. Floyd was later
pronounced dead in hospital and
footage of the incident sparked the
Black Lives Matter protests
worldwide.
Semi-final Philando Castile
The 32-year-old was shot dead
during a traffic stop by police in
Falcon Heights, Minnesota, on July
6, 2016. His girlfriend and four-year-
old daughter witnessed the
shooting.The black victims
honoured by OsakaSerena dismisses injury fears as she takes hunt for No 24 to Paris
hotels for the players meant
she was unable to stay in her
Paris apartment, and she
expressed concerns about
the presence of 11,
spectators.
But asked late on Thurs-
day night for confirmation of
her participation, the reply was
emphatic. “I’m definitely going
to be going to Paris,” she said.
Since winning a 23rd
major trophy at the 2017Australian
Open, Willi-
ams has now
failed in nine
attempts since to
claim No 24. She was
only one set away from
today’s final at Flushing
Meadows but could not
close it out in a 1-6, 6-3,
6-3 defeat by Victoria
Azarenka.
“I started really
strong,” Williams
said. “Then she
just kept fight-ing. She just changed and started
playing better and better. Maybe I took
a little too much off the gas pedal at
some point.
“It’s obviously disappointing. At the
same time, I did what I could today. I
feel like other times when I’ve been
close, I could have done better. Today I
felt like I gave a lot.”
Fourteen days shy of her 39th birth-
day, time is not on Williams’ side. And
there are concerns from some of her
supporters at the heavy strapping she
had applied early in the third set after
picking up an Achilles injury.
“It feels fine,” Williams insisted. “Idon’t think it had anything to do with it.
I think Victoria played well.
“It didn’t affect my play ultimately at
all, just for that one point [when the
injury was sustained].”Stuart Fraser
Williams’ last grand-slam
title was three years agoMATTHEW STOCKMAN/GETTY IMAGESAzarenka is
back to her
best after a
turbulent time
off the courtOsaka v Azarenka
Tonight, 9pm
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