Victoria Azarenka corrects tennis journalist who went wrong with her Miami Open title count
Two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka recently corrected a tennis journalist for a factual error regarding the number of titles the player has won at the Miami Open so far.
Apart from winning the Australian Open titles in 2012 and 2013, the World No. 16 has racked up 10 WTA 1000 titles since turning pro two decades ago. She is one of the few players (both men and women) to have completed the Sunshine Double — winning the Indian Wells and the Miami Open in the same year — in 2016.
While the Belarusian has won the BNP Paribas Open twice (2012 and 2016), she has emerged victorious in Miami on three occasions. In 2009, Azarenka defeated 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams in the final. She beat five-time Major winner Maria Sharapova in the 2011 final and two-time Major winner Svetlana Kuznetsova in the 2016 final, all three matches ending in straight sets.
Italian journalist Mario Boccardi recently took to social media to compile a list of women who have won both Indian Wells and the Miami Open at least once in their careers, not necessarily in the same year. Apart from Azarenka, the names on the list include Martina Navratilova, Monica Seles, Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis, Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters, and Iga Swiatek.
Instead of three, however, Boccardi mistakenly denoted two Miami Open titles for the 33-year-old Belarusian, who corrected him upon noticing the glaring error.
"2+3. You welcome," Azarenka tweeted.
2+3
You welcome twitter.com/marioboc17/sta…
Boccardi was quick to admit his mistake as he wrote:
"Vika has 3 Miami titles obv."
Vika has 3 Miami titles obv 🙌
Victoria Azarenka disagrees with Iga Swiatek who appealed for support for Ukrainian players from WTA
At the 2023 Indian Wells, World No. 1 Iga Swiatek called for support for the Ukrainian tennis players from the WTA, saying that the only discussion that happens is whether Russian and Belarusian players should be allowed to play or not.
"There is a lot of tension in the locker room," Swiatek said. "Obviously, it's going to be there because there is a war. But maybe it would be a little bit less if the WTA put some action at the beginning to kind of explain to everybody what is right and what is not."
"I feel there should be done a little bit more to help Ukrainian players because I feel like everything we discuss in tennis is more about Belarusian and Russian players and if they should be allowed," she added.
Interacting with the media at the 2023 Miami Open, Victoria Azarenka, an active member of the WTA Players Council, disagreed with Swiatek and advised her to look at everything that has been done before commenting.
“Obviously there are certain players that have different feelings and behaviors. Overall, I don’t necessarily share the same opinion as Iga does,” Azarenka said. “I would encourage her to look at the things that have been done before she makes comments."
After her second-round exit at the 2023 BNP Paribas Open, Victoria Azarenka is set to begin her Miami Open campaign against 44th-ranked Camila Giorgi of Italy in the round of 64.