"Absolute disgrace; it happens so much, there has to be accountability" - Victoria Azarenka angered by recently-surfaced video of man beating his daughter on the tennis court
A horrifying event in which a father attacked his daughter on a tennis court recently incensed former World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka.
Igor Guric, a Croatian actor, uploaded a video of the father hitting his daughter earlier on Friday to Instagram. The father can be seen in the video kicking his daughter severely in the genitalia and slapping her forcefully in the face on a tennis court. Later, he also beat her to the ground while dragging her by her collars.
Guric revealed in his post that the family reportedly belongs to China and that he will be filing criminal charges against the abusive father soon.
"Another brutal violence from a father against his daughter. I was informed that this is a family coming from China. We will be filing criminal charges against this monster as well," Guric wrote.
Victoria Azarenka, a two-time Australian Open champion, shared the video on her Instagram story and voiced her rage. She demanded accountability, claiming it was an utter disgrace that others had been filming the entire incident without intervening.
"I don't know who this person is, but wtf is this?!? People filming for this long without intervieng, absolute disgrace. And it happens so much, there has to accountability. Please report who this person is if somebody knows," Azarenka wrote.
"People missed a big opportunity to show how sports can unite" - Victoria Azarenka on Wimbledon's ban on Russian and Belarusian players
During the Citi Open earlier this month, Victoria Azarenka criticized the ban that prevented Russian and Belarusian players from competing at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships.
Speaking in an interview, the Belarusian opined that Wimbledon had missed the chance to display the sport's togetherness. She did, however, express hope that another opportunity would arise in the future to do things differently.
"I’m on the Player Council, so I can’t completely cut myself off, "Azarenka said. "I take that part of my job very seriously. I think what people missed here was a big opportunity to show how sports can unite. I think we missed that opportunity, but I hope we can still show it."
Azarenka also talked about how her attempt to resolve the matter was ignored, remarking that the concerned authorities were ignorant and careless and that they brushed off her solutions without any serious discussion.
"How did I deal with it? I always try to find a solution that is beyond myself and what can be better because I love to help people, " Victoria Azarenka said. "I love to find solutions from difficult situations. I think what was hard was the absolute ignorance and carelessness from the other parties."
"I think that was a tough part to digest, because you’re coming in with options, opportunities and your heart, and it’s met with basically a ‘we don’t care, " she added.