Azarenka laments lack of matches

paris — Victoria Azarenka crashed out of the French Open in the first round losing 5-7 5-7 to Katerina Siniakova on Monday, short of match practice after a legal battle over the custody of her son.

The Belarusian returned to tennis in June last year following the birth of her son Leo in 2016 but then put her career on hold again after a judge in California had ruled that her son Leo should not leave the state until custody was resolved.

“Even though I am doing good things in practice, I’m not able to transfer it to the match,” Azarenka told a post-match conference.

Asked if Serena should have been seeded on her return from maternity leave, Azarenka said the WTA was discussing making a distinction between a return from injury and a return from childbirth.

Even though I am doing good things in practice, I’m not able to transfer it to the match

Victoria Azarenka

“I think that’s real important, (they) cannot go under the same rule,” said Azarenka, who sits on the players’ council. “This conversation was not on the table last year when I was coming back, and I was not seeded in Wimbledon. And this year (Wimbledon) are going to be seeding Serena,” Azarenka said.

“So if we talk about a rule, the rule has to be for everyone.”

Azarenka said she would play a tournament in Mallorca and a couple of exhibition matches in Britain ahead of Wimbledon. —