The uncontrollable cry of the Belarusian Victoria Azarenka in the middle of the match that surprised everyone in Indian Wells

The veteran Belarusian tennis player Victoria Azarenka, the reigning runner-up of Indian Wells, was eliminated in the third round of this tournament against Kazakh Elena Rybakina, in a match in which she had to stop playing for tears.

With an hour of play, Azarenka had a 6-3 and 2-2 disadvantage when he interrupted his service. The 32-year-old Belarusian made a new attempt to draw but ended up putting her hand to her face and squatted down crying, leaning on her racket.

The chair judge came up to ask her if she needed help. “I'm sorry, I'm so sorry,” the double winner of the Australian Open (2012 and 2013), who played with several protections on her right arm, replied several times.

Rybakina, surprised by the situation, asked the chair judge what was happening: “I was just checking that I was okay,” she replied. “Okay, but is it normal? the tennis player reasked him. “No, it's not normal, it's the first time this has happened,” said the umpire.

After a few minutes of pause, Azarenka resumed the match and won that game with her serve with applause from the audience at the center court, who tried to cheer her up. However, Rybakina took the win in the second set and the ticket to the round of 16 by winning 6-3 and 6-4.

“It was a difficult time. I just hope everything's okay with Vika because I don't know what happened. I was just trying to focus on each point, not look at her,” explained later Rybakina, for whom the judge had to take some action in the face of the game stop.

“I can only see that we are still playing and she continued to fight. No one understood what was going on. If I had called the physio or the doctor, it would be one thing. But we stopped for a couple of minutes and then we kept playing,” said 22-year-old Rybakina. “I'd say the rules probably aren't for everyone.”

Like the rest of the Russian and Belarusian participants, Azarenka competed in Indian Wells without a flag or other symbols of his country due to Moscow's military offensive against Ukraine.

Before the start of Indian Wells, on whose center court the flag of Ukraine is flying as a gesture of solidarity, Azarenka said on Twitter that she was “devastated” by the people affected by the war and wished its speedy end.

“I am devastated by the actions that have been taking place in recent days against and in Ukraine. It is heartbreaking to see how the lives of so many innocent people are being affected by violence,” she said on social media what was the number one in women's tennis world for just over fifty weeks, adding: “Since my childhood, I have always seen Ukrainians and Belarusians, as well as both nations, supporting each other. It is hard to witness the violent separation that is taking place today.”

This episode occurred after the incident that the Japanese Naomi Osaka experienced on Saturday, who broke down after receiving a verbal attack from the stand in Indian Wells.

Osaka, who has suffered from anxiety and depression, burst into tears after a cry of “Naomi, you stink” was heard and, totally destabilized, ended up eliminated by Russian Veronika Kudermetova in the second round.

KEEP READING