Little Leo thinks his mum Victoria is just awesome
HIS mum was a smash hit on court and Victoria Azarenka’s young son Leo knew it.
After the former world No.1 powered into the round of 16 at the Australian Open with a straight sets demolition of No.15 seed Elina Svitolina, Leo stole the show in Azarenka’s post-match press conference.
In a heartwarming off-court moment, Leo joined Azarenka for her media commitments following her 6-0 6-2 victory on Rod Laver Arena, perched on her lap.
Both donning sunglasses to shield their eyes from the bright lights, Leo, 5, was asked how his “mummy played today” and he didn’t need any prompting. “Awesome,” he said.
“Thank you for that,’’ Azarenka said, laughing. “Thank you.”
Leo was on the money with his summation after Azarenka took just 67 minutes to wrap up her third-round match against Svitolina on Friday in an eyecatching performance.
It is the first time the Belarusian star has progressed to the fourth round at the Australian Open since 2016.
Azarenka won the Australian Open titles in 2012 and 2013 and is seeded 24 at this year’s event.
The 32-year-old said having Leo with her for her grand slam campaign was “priceless”.
“It’s definitely not a distraction,’’ she said.
“I will never say that.
“Being a parent is not easy. He’s full of personality. I don’t know where he gets it from obviously.
“But I always feel privileged that I’m able to have him here. These kinds of moments are really priceless to me.
“To be able to share that with my son is pretty incredible.”
Azarenka will play Czech No.4 seed Barbora Krejcikova in the next round.
“I think the rise of Barbora has been pretty incredible over the last year-and-a-half, basically since Covid,” Azarenka said.
“She seems to kind of elevate her game more and more. She has all the good tools to play. She can play aggressive; she can mix it up. Very dangerous player.”