WATCH: Victoria Azarenka and son Leo show off their special handshake at Citi Open
Victoria Azarenka enjoyed a special handshake with her son Leo during the Belarusian's practice session ahead of her match in Washington.
The 33-year-old traveled to Washington, D.C., following her fourth-round Wimbledon exit. The seventh seed lost to Ukraine's Elina Svitolina, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (9), with the latter advancing to the semifinals of the tournament.
In a video released by the official Twitter account of Mubadala Citi Open, Victoria Azarenka initiated a special handshake with her seven-year-old son, Leo. As a part of their handshake, the duo shook their hands and even gave each other a fist pump.
"Vika & Leo’s special handshake," the caption of the tweet read.
Vika & Leo’s special handshake 😍
@vika7 | #MubadalaCitiDCOpen pic.twitter.com/JN3IOxwGMj
The Belarusian gave birth to her son in 2016, along with her then-boyfriend Billy McKeague.
The next year, after the 2017 Wimbledon Championships, the couple got involved in a long custody battle, thus forcing Azarenka to miss the rest of her tournaments in 2017. Eventually, the former World No. 1 won custody of her son.
Leo has an Instagram account that is handled jointly by Azarenka and Leo's father, McKeague.
They often post pictures of Leo from his football practice or maybe from his ice hockey sessions. Azarenka also seldom takes her son to her matches and even lets her play a few balls.
Victoria Azarenka will take on Elina Svitolina in the 1R of the Citi Open
Victoria Azarenka will lock horns with Ukraine's Elina Svitolina once again, just within a match of losing to her at Wimbledon. Last year, Azarenka lost to Xiyu Wang in the quarterfinals of the Citi Open.
The Belarusian and the Ukrainian will be up against each other in the first round of the Citi Open in Washington. The winner of this campaign will take on either Elise Mertens or Daria Kasatkina.
During their last meeting, at the 2023 Wimbledon, Victoria Azarenka was booed after her defeat to Svitolina at the prestigious tournament.
The Ukrainian athletes are maintaining their stance of not shaking hands with Russian and Belarusian players, and hence Svitolina did not shake the veteran's hands.
However, the two-time Grand Slam winner was booed after the handshake controversy, much to her surprise. At the press conference, the two-time Australian Open winner commented on the saga.
"She doesn't want to shake hands with Russian, Belarusian people. I respected her decision. What should I have done? Stayed and waited? Like, I mean, there's no thing that I could do that would have been right, so I just did what I thought was respectful towards her decision," she said.
Over the years, the duo have faced each other six times, with Azarenka leading the head-to-head 5-1.