Custody fight will keep Azarenka out of Open
Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka withdrew from the U.S. Open on Monday because she was unable to resolve a custody dispute with her infant son’s father.
The 28-year-old star from Belarus, who gave birth to her first child in December and returned to the tour in June, detailed the dispute with the boy’s father in a long Twitter post last week, saying that she might not be able to bring her son with her to New York.
“I am sadly unable to compete in this year’s U.S. Open due to my ongoing family situation that I am working through,” Azarenka said in a statement.
In last week’s post, Azarenka wrote that she separated from Leo’s father shortly after Wimbledon, where she lost to Simona Halep in the fourth round July 10.
“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 U.S. Open this year is if I leave Leo behind in California,” Azarenka wrote, “which I’m not willing to do.”
Azarenka has not played since Wimbledon. The U.S. Open starts next Monday.
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A woman who reported that she’d been sexually assaulted is suing Baylor University, alleging that questions she faced from the university shifted blame away from her attacker toward her. The lawsuit filed in federal court alleges that Baylor’s response to the attack violated federal Title IX laws against gender discrimination. The woman, identified in the suit only as “Jane Doe 11,” still attends Baylor.
Long Beach State baseball coach Troy Buckley signed a contract extension through 2022.
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