Victoria Azarenka has the chance to make tennis history at this year’s Australian Open as the Belarusian is two wins away from setting the longest gap between two Grand Slam wins on the women’s side in the Open EraAccording to Ben Rothenberg.
If Victoria Azarenka wins the #AusOpen, 10 years (3,654 days) will have passed between their Slam women’s singles titles, by far the longest gap for any player in the Open era between major wins. —Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) January 24, 2023
Azarenka, 33, captured her second Grand Slam title when she successfully defended her Australian Open title in 2013.
Now, Azarenka has reached the semifinal of the Australian Open and is just two wins away from winning her first Grand Slam title in exactly 10 years. Additionally, Rothenberg noted that Azarenka would have set the record in 2020 as well if she had defeated Naomi Osaka in the US Open final.
Azarenka would have already held this record if she had won the 2020 US Open final; it’s very, very difficult to do what she’s doing.#AusOpen —Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) January 24, 2023
Azarenka rediscovers her best tennis
For the first time since the 2020 US Open, Azarenka has reached the round of 16 of a Grand Slam.
After beating Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, Azarenka revealed what was holding her back in recent years. «My tennis was not bad, but I was not there mentally. I played with a lot of fear, a lot of anxiety.
It was really hard to be brave and make the right decisions on the court at important moments when you feel anxious and hesitant,» Azarenka said after beating Pegula, according to the WTA website. Furthermore, Azarenka admitted that he got to the point where he discovered that he needed to change certain things in order to achieve more success.
«I worked a lot on my mindset, challenging myself on things I wouldn’t do before. When you achieve great success, sometimes you become conservative and hesitant to try new things. I was like, ‘You know what, I’ll be open-minded, try new things, keep your head down and work,'» Azarenka explained.
In the Australian Open semifinal, Azarenka plays Elena Rybakina. Rybakina is the reigning Wimbledon champion and Azarenka certainly has a very difficult task ahead of her.
