Mum’s the word with match schedule
There were an estimated 134 million babies born around the world in 2016.
Only one of them, Leo, has a mother headed for the round of 16 at the All England Club.
Big deal, you might say. And I would agree. Except that Victoria Azarenka, like a whole bunch of first time mums — the handy CIA World Factbook fails me on this statistic — acts like she’s invented motherhood.
The Belarusian seems a nice enough lady, reported to be among the best-liked individuals inside the locker room, which can be a bitchy place on the women’s tour. Twenty-seven years old, the two-time Australian Open champion has been warmly welcomed back into the fold after taking maternity leave, with chubby and dimpled Leo born last December.
Azarenka, a former World No. 1, has played only half a dozen matches since as she tries to ease herself back into the tennis vagabond life, so much of it spent on the road. But with both boyfriend and mom — the nanny was left behind — accompanying her to Wimbledon, Azarenka doesn’t exactly have to strap Leo to her chest in a baby sling when stepping out to the Tesco. Presumably, unlike Roger Federer, who famously rents two houses during the Wimbledon fortnight, one for himself to sleep in peacefully, the other for his spouse and their two sets of young twins, Azarenka can also see a whole lot of Leo whilst attending to her job, even if she’s a nursing mother, a detail undisclosed.
Yet Azarenka put the alleged mommy gap square in the crosshairs of cross female (mostly) commentators when she whined, earlier in the week, about being kept hanging around the grounds because hers was among the matches unscheduled at the start of the day. Unscheduled usually means organizers want to get you on one of the main show courts, depending on the completion of matches. Even with the weather cooperating some days have gone well into the evening, despite Wimbledon not being a major that formally plays games under the lights.