The victory of Victoria Azarenka and motherhood

She was only 22 then. Up against a feisty Maria Sharapova in the Australian Open 2012 final, Victoria Azarenka had to pull off nothing short of a miracle to clinch her first major title. So she did. 

Ice in her veins, Azarenka wrapped up the match 6-3, 6-0 in an hour and 22 minutes. There was frenzy all around as newspapers from around the globe seemed to have found their new “Queen of Tennis”. 

Cut to January 2015, the Belarusian was going into the season-opening Grand Slam at Melbourne Park, a venue where once she had conquered back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013, unseeded and ranked 41st on the women’s tour. She had missed a major chunk of the 2014 season owing to injuries and a much-talked-about breakup.

Following her fall from grace in professional and personal life, Azarenka struggled with depression in 2014.

In an interview with the reporters in Brisbane before that Australian Open, Azarenka opened up about her situation. “I don’t want to sound like a mental person but, yeah, I was (depressed),” she said. “When you’re in those moments it’s difficult to recognise that because you think you’re fine… I think the first time that I admitted that I wasn’t OK it made me feel a little bit better.”

In July 2016, the two-time Grand Slam winner had to leave the WTA tour as she was pregnant. Azarenka, in an interview with the BBC, admitted, “I knew I was going to come back but my first thought was, ‘Oh my god I’m never going to play tennis again’.”   

Since her return in 2017, she had crossed the third round in singles just twice – 2018 US Open and 2019 Wimbledon – but did not go past that stage in the eight Slams she played.

Seemingly, Azarenka was already being written off as a ‘what could’ve been’ after a series of failures. 

So, when the 31-year-old was pitted against Serena Williams in a post-lockdown US Open 2020 singles semifinal, there wasn’t much banking on her. But in an emphatic fashion, Azarenka took down Williams after coming back into the match from a set down (1-6, 6-3, 6-3) on Friday.

The win is for ages as it embodies the years of fight that the Belarusian had to go through and her never dying attitude. Her victory brings pride to every woman out there who has graced maternity and not let it hinder their professional life. 

On Sunday, when Azarenka steps into her first Grand Slam final in seven years, against Naomi Osaka, she will be pumped to win the title and crown the years of struggle that have made the critics write her off. 

The story of Azarenka is personal. It’s not only in the titles and Grand Slams she wins but also in her redemption, holding the hand of her little boy Leo.