“Pretty Ready to Stop”: Victoria Azarenka Reveals Mindset Before Coming to US Open 2020

Before she arrived in New York City for the US Open Series, it was difficult to predict that Victoria Azarenka would be in her current situation. She is unbeaten in her last 10 matches and at 31 years of age, the two-time Grand Slam winner is reinventing her career.

After reaching the quarter-finals of the US Open 2020, Victoria Azarenka revealed that she herself did not predict her current situation. The Belarusian star said that she came close to quitting the sport, just months ago. She also battled problems in her personal life in recent years and was ready to retire.

Victoria Azarenka reveals mindset months before unbeaten run

“I mean, what was the moment that I wanted to stop? There was a few, there was a lot,” Azarenka said after her win on Monday. “I mean, in my head, I had the situations I had to go through, I thought that I’m going to stop. Let me see,” she added.

The former world number one said that she did not touch her racquet for five months before the coronavirus pandemic struck. “I don’t know how close that is, but I was pretty ready to stop. I mean, I didn’t touch a racquet for about five months, so… Before the pandemic. That’s pretty close to stopping,” Azarenka continued.

Azarenka said that if things went a certain way, she would have retired. “I was prepared to start if the consequences of a certain situation were going to turn out one way. I was ready to stop. But they turned out a different way. I made a really conscious decision to try one more time to play,” Azarenka added.

How Azarenka turned things around

Eventually, Azarenka started playing tennis again. Her comeback is already successful. Azarenka’s American hard-court season began with a loss to Venus Williams in Lexington. Since then, she is unbeaten, winning the Western and Southern Open in the process.

Azarenka lost just two sets in the last two weeks and looks like her old self again. She reached the quarter-finals of the US Open 2020 with a 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 win over Karolina Muchova.