Fear for Belarusian tennis player Azarenka: she tweeted against Russia's invasion of Ukraine and closed her social media profiles

Uncertainty in the world of tennis due to the situation of the Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, whose social media profiles were deleted after she spoke out against her the invasion of Russia into Ukraine. The athlete has not yet referred to it and the mystery grows around why this happened.

“It breaks your heart to see how many innocent people have been affected by this violence and will continue to be affected,” the 32-year-old tennis player tweeted in the context of an attack in which her country, Belarus, supports the nation's plans of Vladimir Putin.

Azarenka made news, current runner-up of Indian Wells, made headlines this week as she was eliminated on Monday in the third round of the US tournament against Kazakh Elena Rybakina, in a match in which had to stop playing for tears. With an hour of play, the European had a 6-3 and 2-2 disadvantage when she interrupted her 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.

After a few minutes of pause, Azarenka resumed the match and won that game with her serve with applause from the audience of the central court, who tried to cheer her up. However, Rybakina took the win in the second set and the ticket to the round of 16: “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 the winner.

“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 flies as a gesture of solidarity, the athlete had stated on Twitter that she was “devastated” by the people affected by the war and wished for its early end.

The opinion of the tennis player against Russia's invasion of Ukraine is not a minor issue in her nation. Belarus is ruled by dictator Alexander Lukashenko, Vladimir Putin's main ally. At the beginning of March, the UN published a report on that nation, in which it assures that “it is not only the violations inflicted on people trying to exercise their basic human rights, but also underlines the victims' inability to access justice,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet. In this context, there is growing concern about the situation in Azarenka.

KEEP READING: