Victoria Azarenka: 'I worked hard, the goal is to play at my best in 2019'
World no. 51 and the two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka has been working hard in the offseason in order to prepare herself for the first Australian trip in three years, leaving injuries and custody battle behind her and looking forward to traveling down under with her son Leo. Due to injuries, pregnancy and custody battle, Vika played only two tournaments between 2016 Roland Garros and 2018 Indian Wells and she had only one big result in the season behind us, playing in the semi-final of Miami in only the second tournament after a comeback, winning 17 matches overall and standing just outside the top-50.
Azarenka will try to change all that in the opening month of the new season, entering Auckland and the Australian Open and hoping to restore the Australian magic that brought her so much success in the past. Asked about the fact there were eight different Grand Slam champions in the last two years, Vika said it is very exciting and that gives the special note to women's tennis unlike on the ATP Tour when Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray have been the dominant figures for more than 10 years. She also mentioned you can't make everybody satisfy, as people were saying the women's tennis is boring when only one player dominated over the rest of the field.
All in all, she feels confident and motivated to chase the big titles in 2019 and get back where she belongs after a tough period that is now behind her.
"There is a part of it that's exciting," Azarenka told Stuff. "Over the last 15 years or so, the generations have changed a couple of times, from when I came on the tour and now I feel like a veteran. Although when I came on the tour Serena Williams was there and today she's still here. So there are a couple of players that have lasted and it's the same with Maria Sharapova. When we had one person winning a lot of Grand Slams, people were saying it's boring and always the same person. I don't think everybody will ever be satisfied, because in the men's tennis that's been happening for the last 15 years.
As much as I like to watch matchups of Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer with Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray they're winning all of the Grand Slams. The goal is to play at my best in 2019, I've been working hard for the last 10 or so weeks and I've definitely put a lot of work in and now it's time to perform. I'm not at the competitive tournament mindset just yet, because it's a little too early, but I'm looking forward to seeing after all the work I've put in, what's going to come out of that. Since I've been a junior I've played really well in Australia.
In general, I really enjoy the atmosphere there, I appreciate how much the Australian Open has been evolving, renovating and making sure the players and fans get a better tournament each year. Being the first Grand Slam of the year, there's always a lot of excitement, but in general I love the country and the people there."
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2EGkbyS
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