Shortly after her fourth-round win over No. 20 seed Karolina Muchova, Victoria Azarenka greeted her opponent at the net for the traditional social tennis graces and did something quite uncommon in the professional tour.
With a lighthearted tone, almost reminiscent of a child leaving a friend’s birthday party, Azarenka thanked her opponent and said, "I had a lot of fun playing!" Not exactly something you typically hear exchanged at the net after a tense three-set battle, certainly not in the latter stages of a Grand Slam, where emotions and drama run high.
When a player like Azarenka, a two-time US Open finalist, is playing so loose that she’s having a blast on court, it’s a dangerous sign for her opponents. All of a sudden, she’s having fun finding solutions for turning a match in her favor, as she did when she came back from a set down against Muchova in the Round of 16. And it’s that mindset that has fueled her quarterfinal run here at the 2020 US Open.
"I feel like I've always been passionate," Azarenka said. "But the joy of playing and kind of accepting the process—all of the good and bad in the process—I have never done that before in my career, even when I was No. 1, when I was winning Grand Slams. I was never able to reach that level of happiness on the court, joy on the court, enjoyment of that. I'm very pleased with that."
Azarenka credits this year’s five-month hiatus as a turning point in her game because it gave her time to change her approach to tennis.
"I took the fear of failing away from myself, which has been really powerful [in order] for me to progress," she said. "I think the way I approach the court, the way I approach doing fitness, everything related to my job has been changed in the way of the perception that I feel. And, you know, COVID-19 has been a terrible thing, but for me, it got me to pause and really overview a lot of things for myself."
Watch Azarenka's Round-of-16 Press Conference below
The time off spent in self-reflection has paid dividends these past few weeks for the two-time Australian Open champion. She claimed her 21st career title and first since 2016 at this year’s Western & Southern Open, which was held on the courts of Flushing Meadows prior to the US Open. That level of familiarity with playing back-to-back tournaments at the same location has served Azarenka well, allowing her to get a lot of matches under her belt and make improvements along the way.
"I have been confident going into the tournament," Azarenka said. "I have done a lot of good work. I was feeling good, I was feeling happy. So I think it was a matter of time. I'm playing a lot of matches, kind of getting better and better from one match to another."
En route to the quarters, the Belarusian has defeated Barbara Haas, No. 5 Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and No. 20 Muchova with impressive performances. Her next challenge will be No. 16 Elise Mertens, who has yet to drop a set in her run at the Open.
If Azarenka can maintain the same positive mindset that has allowed her to swing so freely this fortnight, there’s no limit to her potential in Flushing Meadows.
