Tennis

Victoria Azarenka: Protecting young tennis players from sexual abuse must be a priority

‘If I had a daughter, I would have a question would she want to play tennis’

Victoria Azarenka returns a shot against Petra Martic during their third-round match at the US Open. Photograph: Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Victoria Azarenka returns a shot against Petra Martic during their third-round match at the US Open. Photograph: Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Sun Sept 04 2022 - 11:02

Sexual abuse of young female players by older male coaches happens “right and left” on the WTA Tour and safeguarding against it must be a priority, Victoria Azarenka said at the US Open on Saturday.

Azarenka's remarks to reporters came after Pierre Bouteyre, the former coach of French player Fiona Ferro, was charged in France on Thursday with raping and sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager between 2012 and 2015, according to AFP.

Bouteyre’s lawyer told AFP that a relationship had occurred but denied any coercion. The lawyer said the 50-year-old Bouteyre described the relationship as “a true love story”.

Azarenka, who sits on the eight-person WTA players council, said that combating abuse was the group's top priority.

READ MORE

“We see those vulnerable young ladies that [are] getting taken advantage of in different situations,” she said.

“It’s really sad and really makes me emotional,” she said. “If I had a daughter, I would have a question would she want to play tennis, that would be a very big concern in that way for me.”

Former number one Azarenka, who reached the tournament's fourth round on Saturday, applauded Ferro for her bravery in speaking out.

Ferro, 25, won two WTA titles and reached as high as world number 39 last year but is currently ranked 259 and lost during tournament qualifiers last week.

“I hope this situation she's gonna come out of it stronger and tennis is not ruined for her because of that,” Azarenka said.

She implored journalists at the news conference to do their part to exposé abuse. “Do the research, help people to open up more. Hopefully one by one try to eliminate those types of situations.”

Czech Karolina Pliskova, another former world number one, was unsure if the women's tennis body could be of much help, saying she felt it was the responsibility of parents to ensure that the abuse of players does not happen.

Current world number one Iga Swiatek, 21, said she had never faced such a situation and was keeping the faith in the WTA.

“I hope that if something like that happens, we’re going to kind of be safe and have trust in WTA that they’re going to take care of this stuff properly,” the two-time French Open champion said. “I’m sure they’re doing that.”

In Saturday’s action at Flushing Meadows, World number one Iga Swiatek dug her way out of a second set hole to notch a 6-3 6-4 win over American Lauren Davis and reach the fourth round of the for the second straight year.

The French Open champion came out sharp and fired an unreturnable serve out wide to capture the first set before falling behind 4-1 in the second as Davis raised her level.

Despite the deficit the feisty Pole stubbornly refused to drop her first set of the tournament, winning a tense 16-shot rally to set up break points at 4-4, which she converted when Davis whacked a backhand into the net.

In the end, Swiatek’s superior serving and relentless defense carried the day against Davis, who plays a similar but less potent brand of tennis as Swiatek.

The 21-year-old top seed admitted she was not at her best during the two-hour night match on Louis Armstrong Stadium despite reeling off the match’s final five games.

“I couldn’t find my rhythm today,” Swiatek said in an on-court interview.

“She played totally differently than any other player. She played very smart. I’m pretty happy at the end that I could put balls in.

“I’m trying to enjoy every match even when it’s not perfect. Just trying to go for it. Trying to find solutions in every situation.”

Swiatek went on a blistering 37-match winning streak earlier this year to claim titles in Roland Garros, Doha, Indian Wells, Miami and Rome but cooled off this summer, losing four matches during the hard-court season.

So far in New York she has put to rest any questions about her form and will be the heavy favourite when she takes on Germany’s Jule Niemeier on Monday after the Wimbledon quarter-finalist upset China’s Qinwen Zheng 6-4 7-6 (5) to reach the round of 16.

American Danielle Collins came out all guns blazing, hammering 52 winners past experienced Alize Cornet of France in a 6-4 7-6 (9) victory to book her spot in the fourth round for the first time.

In a classic contest between the contrasting styles of attack and defence, the 28-year-old Collins came out on top by firing rocket groundstrokes from both her forehand and backhand in front of an appreciative crowd in the day’s final match at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Collins, who finished runner-up at the Australian Open this year, will next face sixth seed Aryna Sabalenka in a battle of hard-hitters for a spot in the quarter-finals.

“This is one of my favourite slams. But didn’t have my best results at this specific one,” Collins, who beat two-time former champion Naomi Osaka in her opening round, said.

“To be able to kind of have my best results that I’ve had here has been great. Obviously I want to try to take it to the next level and do the best I can. With the way I’m playing, I’ve just got to take it one match at a time.”

Cornet, who was contesting her 63rd consecutive main draw at the majors and had defeated last year’s champion Emma Raducanu in her opening round, knew she had to force Collins into making errors to have any chance of a victory.

But her American opponent made few mistakes during the one hour and 53 minute contest, while managing to hit more than three times the number of winners.

A single break of Cornet’s serve in the fifth game was enough for Collins to take the opening set.

The American set up her first match point during a closely contested tiebreaker but was forced to save three set points before she could close out the match with a backhand winner at the net.

“I think if we look at Alize’s record she battles in every single match,” Collins said. “When she goes down she doesn’t go down easy. I knew I would have to follow the ball in to the net, be patient, and win points two, three, four times.”

Sabalenka spent two hours and 15 minutes on court in her previous round, during which she rallied from 5-1 down in the second set and saved two match points to beat Estonian Kaia Kanepi 2-6 7-6 (8) 6-4.

It was a much easier outing on Saturday evening for the Belarusian on the final match on Grandstand court.

The former world number two, a semi-finalist at Flushing Meadows last year, steamrolled qualifier Clara Burel 6-0 6-2 in just 68 minutes, hitting 27 winners past the 21-year-old from France.

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2022