Victoria Azarenka plans to stage a comeback during the US Open Series later this year after giving birth to her first child.
The former Australian Open champion gave birth to a baby boy called Leo on December 21st. Azarenka hasn’t played a competitive match on the tour since her first round retirement at the French Open last May.
Throughout her absence from the tour, she has vowed to return. Recently she enlisted the help of new coach Michael Joyce, a former ATP player who peaked at a high of 64th in 1996. Since retiring from professional tennis, Joyce has spent time working with Maria Sharapova and Jessica Pegula.
“Physically I want to get my body strong, and it’s more about rebuilding the body. I’m taking enough time to be able to work on things that, as a tennis player in the off-season, you don’t have enough time to do. I want to put a few changes for myself. That’s why I’m taking a little bit of time to work on those things and be able to implement and have enough time to work on them.” Azarenka told the Tennis Channel.
Cautiously plotting her comeback to the sport, the former world No.1 is targeting the American hard-court swing this summer. Last year the Belarusian achieved her best results in America when she clinched the sunshine double, winning back-to-back titles in Miami and Indian Wells.
“My goal, for now, is to be ready for summer, the US Open Series, and we’ll see where it goes.” She explained.
“This is realistically where I want to start. Also if Leo is ready to travel the world, I want to be comfortable. I don’t want to rush anything. I’ve done it before after injuries and it didn’t work out well. Even though it’s a completely different story this time, I want to give myself the best opportunity.”
When she does return to the tour, Azarenka is eager to climb her way back to the top of the women’s game. So far in her career, the Belarusian has won 20 WTA titles, one Olympic gold medal and has spent a total of 19 weeks as world No.1.
“I have no doubt that I can improve much more. That’s why I’m taking my time to work smart and add to my game to become a better player. That’s the only reason why I want to go back and play on the tour. I don’t want to come back and just play. I want to go back and be the best again. That’s my goal.” Said Azarenka.
The US Open Series will get underway on July 31st.
