English

Tennis star Azaranka meets with reporters in Minsk

 

Belarusian tennis star Viktoryya Azaranka (Victoria Azarenka) held a news conference on Tuesday during a rare visit to Minsk.

The 23-year-old two-time Australian Open champion said that she took her fall from the world No. 1 spot in her stride.
"I have repeatedly said that my ranking is not what matters most to me. My main goal is winning major tournaments, in particular Grand Slam events," she stressed.

Ms. Azaranka announced at the news conference that she had set up a charity called The Dreaming Heart Foundation to help sick children fulfill their dreams.

The player insisted that she was a patriot "no matter what they say" and expressed anger at Belarusian media reports suggesting that she was reluctant to play for the national team in the Federation Cup. "In my opinion, this is wrong and very disrespectful to me as an athlete," she said, adding that she would play for the national team in the future.

Ms. Azaranka said that she was offended by accusations over a medical timeout that she called during a match against the United States' Sloane Stephens in the 2013 Australian Open semifinals.

Many experts said that Ms. Azaranka had illegally taken the timeout not for medical reasons but to regroup after her opponent managed to win a crucial game.

"I have already said many times what happened then," she said. "Only I know what I had to go through then. I admit that [the allegations] hurt me. These were probably the worst 48 hours in my life. But now it's all over and one can only draw conclusions from the story," she said.

"I never look at what other players do," she said. "I don’t mean their style of play. But what they do is their own business. I have my own path, my work, my goal."

"I never think of myself as a sports star. You have to stay human in the first place. When people approach me on the street and tell me that they are fans and ask me to pose for a photograph with them, I cannot say no. This actually pleases me. I view this as my job's bonus." //BelaPAN