The son of Victoria Azarenka charms the press: “My mother played a great role” | Australian Open

Victoria Azarenka won the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013 and was also #1 in the world for quite some time. But after the birth of her son in 2016, things went downhill for the Belarusian.

Azarenka separated from her son’s father and engaged in a fierce legal battle for custody of young Leo. She even paused her career to focus on that fight.

Those swings are now over and since then Azarenka has been trying to reconnect with the high peaks of last year, with varying degrees of success.

Anyway, it looks like Azarenka is on the right track at the much-loved Australian Open. In the third round she wasted a bit of energy today on Elina Svitolina, ranked 17th in the world. Azarenka allowed her opponent only two matches, under the supervision of her son Leo.

Then, he stole the show at the press conference with flashy sunglasses on mom’s lap. He laughed at his hand when a reporter wanted to know what he thought of his mother’s performance. “Wonderful, great,” it sounded decidedly so.

“It is such an honor to have him here with me,” Azarenka said of her son. “These moments are invaluable to me. It’s so incredible to be able to share such moments with Leo.”

Obviously, Azarenka feels good again. Her next opponent, Roland Garros award-winning Barbora Krejkova, has already been warned.