Azarenka could miss US Open due to custody battle

CINCINNATI: Victoria Azarenka detailed her custody fight over eight-month-old son Leo in a Twitter-linked note, saying she will skip the US Open because of it unless things change.

The move came six days after a TMZ Sports website reported that Azarenka would skip the year’s final Grand Slam event at New York following a split last month with the boy’s father, Billy McKeague.

The report said a judge in Los Angeles, where McKeague filed custody papers, will not allow the boy to leave California until the matter is settled, not expected until October.

Azarenka left open a possibility she might be able to play in the Flushing Meadows fortnight, saying in her message: “My incredible fans and friends, who have supported me throughout my career deserve to know why I may not be able to compete at the US Open this year.”

The 28-year-old from Belarus, ranked 204 after a layoff while pregnant and after her son’s birth, played last month at Wimbledon, reaching the round of 16 before losing to sec- ond-ranked Simona Halep.

“Shortly after Wimbledon, Leo’s father and I separated and as we work to resolve some of the legal processes, the way things stand now is that the only way I can play in the US Open this year is if I leave Leo behind in California, which I’m not willing to do,” Azarenka wrote.

“I look forward to hopefully having positive developments soon so that this difficult situation can be resolved and I can get back to competing.

“No parent should have to decide between their child or their career.”

While not outlining exactly what changes she expected might happen before the Aug 28 start of the US Open, Azarenka said she was hopeful.

“I remain optimistic that in the coming days Leo’s father and I can put aside any differences and take steps in the right direction to more effectively work as a team and agree on an arrangement for all three of us to travel and for me to compete but, more importantly, to ensure that Leo has a consistent presence from both of his parents,” she wrote. — AFP