Revisiting the ruthless coverage of Azarenka's 2013 Aussie Open run

"It took me 10 f***king years to get over it."

Jan 30, 2023

Ten years after she won her second straight Australian Open title in 2013, Victoria Azarenka finally made it back into the semifinals in Melbourne last week, where she lost 7-6(7), 6-3 to reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.

Despite the loss, her deep run offered the public a chance to become reacquainted with the former No. 1, who is now a 33-year-old mother. And while she still has the eccentric, brash edge that defined her rise to the top of the game in her late teens and early 20s, she’s also worked hard to evolve and grow, on and off the court. (In other words, like a true millennial , it seems she’s spent some time over the past few years in therapy.)

That growth was on full display as she played match after match on Rod Laver Arena — which despite being the site of her greatest career triumphs, is also rife with reminders of one of the most traumatic incidents in her tennis career.

The most ridiculed panic attack of all time

It was the 2013 Australian Open. Azarenka was No. 1 in the world and the defending champion. She was slated to meet Serena Williams in the semifinals. But 19-year-old Sloane Stephens had other plans; in the quarterfinals, Stephens beat Williams (who, it must be said, was struggling with an ankle injury) and became an overnight media sensation.

In the semifinal, Stephens looked outmatched and Azarenka got out to a 6-1, 5-3 lead. That’s when things took a turn.1 Azarenka squandered (or Stephens saved, depending on your perspective) five match points while serving for the match. Then, before Stephens had a chance to serve to even the second set at 5-5, the Belarusian called the trainer. She seemed to be having trouble breathing. The trainer started to adjust back on the side of the court, then they went off court. In total it was a nine-minute medical timeout. When Azarenka returned to the court, she broke Stephens to win 6-1, 6-4, and advance to the final.

People were, understandably, curious as to what caused Azarenka to take such a long timeout at such an important part of the match for her opponent. And her answers were initially clunky. In the post-match interview, she didn’t discuss any physical injury, but rather talked about how she almost choked the match away, was overwhelmed, and nervous. In an interview with Belarusian media, she said she had a panic attack. But the narrative that she was a cheater who was manipulating the rules to ice Stephens before a crucial service game emerged before she even reached the post-match press conference, which was essentially a criminal interrogation.

Never mind that anyone watching the match saw Azarenka clearly was having trouble breathing. Never mind that the tournament director confirmed she was treated for a back injury and didn’t break any rules. Never mind that Azarenka repeatedly said she had a blocked rib that was causing her breathing issues, which would naturally be exacerbated by an extremely long, physical game and nerves. Never mind that anyone who has ever had a panic attack knows that it does, in fact, manifest itself physically. She was the villain.

When Azarenka took the court for the final less than two days later, she was booed. And even though she went on to defeat the beloved Li Na 4–6, 6–4, 6–3 to win the championship two days later (a surreal match in itself2), the furor over her medical timeout against Stephens clouded everything, and the gamesmanship narrative followed her for years.

“It was one of the worst things that I've ever gone through in my professional career, the way I was treated after that moment, the way I had to explain myself until 10:30 p.m. at night because people didn't want to believe me,” she told reporters in Melbourne last week.

“It took me 10 fucking years to get over it.”

Here’s a taste of how cruel the coverage was

After hearing Azarenka talk about 2013, I had to go back to the archives and see if the coverage was as bad as I remembered; and it turns out, it was! (Although I’m pretty sure the television commentary was even worse.)

Here are a couple of articles published after the semifinal:

Critics who claim that the medical time-out rules are some of the most abused in tennis will believe that their argument was reinforced yesterday as Victoria Azarenka faced accusations of gamesmanship following her 6-1, 6- 4 semi-final victory over Sloane Stephens. The world No 1, having just blown five match points when serving at 5-3 in the second set, sent for the trainer, complaining that she was having trou- ble breathing. Azarenka left the court and was absent for nearly 10 minutes while she took a medical time-out, leaving Stephens to wait for her to return. When she came back, Azarenka broke serve immediately to win the match and earn a place in tomorrow’s final against Li Na, who had beaten Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-2. In her post-match interview on the court Azarenka was asked: “Could you tell us why you had to go off and how are you?” Azarenka replied: “I al- most did the choke of the year right now. At 5-3, having so many chances and I couldn’t close it out. I was a bit overwhelmed realising I was one step away from the final. Nerves got into me, for sure.” In another broadcast interview immediately after the match Azarenka said she had suf- fered a “panic attack”. However, players must have valid medical reasons for taking a time-out and in a later press conference Azarenka said she had been suffering from a “locked rib” which was caus- ing her breathing difficulties. “When you cannot breathe you start to panic,” she insisted. “I was really panicking, not because I couldn’t convert my match point.” Azarenka said her on-court com- ments had been a misunderstanding because she thought she had been asked why she had been unable to close out the match, rather than why she had left the court. She said she had suffered the injury to her back in the second set. “I should have called the trainer a little bit earlier,” she said. “Before I got to the point that I couldn’t really breathe and had to go off court.” Tournament rules state that when players call for the trainer an evalua- tion has to be made to decide whether they have a “treatable medical condi- tion”. If the trainer decides that addi- tional time for treatment is required, an extra three minutes is then allowed for that treatment to be given. Players are allowed only one medi- cal time-out for each condition, though it is possible to take two con- secutive time-outs if the player “has developed at least two distinct acute and treatable medical conditions”. Azarenka had also had a knee problem, but said that she had told medical staff that she wanted to take only one time- out. She said the length of her absence from the court was down to the time it had taken to evaluate her condition. The umpire’s official scorecard said that she had taken two time-outs. There is a widespread view that many players abuse the system by call- ing for the trainer or taking a medical time-out when they are struggling with their game, or as an attempt to disturb their opponent’s rhythm at a crucial stage in the match. When asked if she understood why her actions might be perceived as gamesmanship, Azarenka said: “I don’t because it was necessary.” However, she was quickly criticised on Twitter. Pam Shriver, the former world No 2, talked about “this injury charade of 10 minutes”, while Jonas Bjorkman, the former Swedish player, said the episode demonstrated why the rule needed to be changed. Chris McKendry, an ESPN broadcaster, simply asked: “So Azarenka injured her nerves?” Sharapova, who lost to Azarenka in last year’s final, had dropped only nine games in her first five matches, but Li offered a much stiffer challenge and knocked the Russian out of her stride with her consistent hitting. Li will be playing in her second final here, having lost to Kim Clijsters in 2011. Azarenka in firing line after time-out for ‘feeling nervous’ By Paul NewmaN “I almost did choke of the year. At 5-3, I couldn’t close it out. I was overwhelmed.” Victoria Azarenka receives treatment during her semi-final victory ap — The Independent in London on January 25, 2013

What makes me the most angry about that article? Well, the headline made me punch a wall, and I created a second hold reading Chris McKendry’s line about how Azarenka “injured her nerves.”

CLOSECALL TENNIS AZARENKA ELUDES CHOKEHOLD, GAINS RETURN TRIP TO AUSTRALIAN FINALS By JOHN PYE Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia — Sloane Stephens sat for nine minutes, mostly staring at the court and trying to forget the curious timing of Victoria Azarenka’s medical timeout. She may have been the only one trying to ignore it. The 19-year-old American had just saved five match points and broken Azarenka. But she knew she had to hold serve to stay in her first Grand Slam semifinal whenever Azarenka — the No. 1 player and defending Australian Open champion — returned to Rod Laver Arena. The restless murmuring in the crowd gave way to slow claps. Why had Azarenka chosen that very moment for a medical break? Azarenka eventually hustled onto the court, and Stephens won only three more points, losing 6-1, 6-4. “I almost did the choke of the year,” Azarenka said in a frank admission during an on-court interview. “At 5-3, having so many chances, I couldn’t close it out.” The crowd that had cheered wildly for Stephens, only 25 hours after she ousted an injured Serena Williams, gave Azarenka tepid applause as she left the court. She’ll face 2011 finalist Li Na in the final Saturday night. Given the support Li enjoyed in her 6-2, 6-2 win over No. 2-ranked Maria Sharapova, there’s no question which player the crowd will favor in the title match. Azarenka’s immediate post- match remarks suggest she panicked after failing to convert five match points, her forehand misfiring. She had little trouble finishing the match after she came back, and the No. 29- seeded Stephens had cooled off. “I just felt a little bit overwhelmed. I realized I’m one step away from the final and nerves got into me for sure,” Azarenka said. The 23-year-old Belarusian said she was later compelled to explain that she misunderstood the question in the on-court interview, and she wanted to dispel the perception that her medical timeout amounted to little more than gamesmanship. “I understand the point of people maybe not understanding what I said; me not understanding what I’ve been asked,” she said during an official news conference more than two-thirds devoted to questions on her medical timeout. “So I’m just glad that I’m here, you know, to make everything clear. “You know, I think you cannot really judge by (a) few words. The situation had to be explained.” Medical staff said Azarenka had timeouts for treatment of left knee and rib injuries. The rib needed to be manipulated because it was affecting her breathing. Tournament director Craig Tiley said Azarenka hadn’t broken any rules. Azarenka hadn’t helped herself in a second television interview after the match when she said she could- n’t breathe. “I had chest pains,” she said. “It was like I was getting a heart attack.” She tried to allay any negative perception with her explanation that the choking was related to shortness of breath from the rib injury, not her faltering game. “When you cannot breathe you start to panic,” she said. “I was really panicking, not because I couldn’t convert my match point. That’s not the case. I mean, I’m experienced enough to go over those emotions. But when you cannot breathe, when something’s really blocking you, the stress — that was the stress I was talking about. “What I said — that I was stressed out and choked — was not because I couldn’t finish my shot. It was just so stressing me out the pain that I had that, maybe it was overreaction, but I just really could- n’t breathe.” Azarenka had retired during previous Grand Slam matches, including a fourth-round match against Serena Williams at the 2009 Australian Open. But with a second major title so close, and the fact she needed to reach the final to retain the No. 1 ranking, she desperately didn’t want to quit this time. For her part, Stephens seemed sympathetic. She had to wait through a medical timeout Wednesday when Williams received treatment for a sore back — the 15-time major winner injured herself after leading by a set and a break. Another rival earlier in the tournament took a long break between sets for other reasons. — Valley Morning Star in Harlingen, Texas on January 25, 2013

The above article is the AP write-up that appeared in newspapers across the world, setting the parameters for much of the conversation to follow. The headline on this particular version isn’t the worst I saw, but here are a smattering of headlines3 from other publications after the match:

Screenshots of headlines from across the world reacting to Azarenka’s medical timeout: 3 "No. I Azarenka’s ‘injury’ break helps her finish off Stephens, 19” (The Indianapolis Star) “Victoria Azarenka’s Crying Shame” (The Independent) “Azarenka injects drama into her win” (Tampa Bay Times) “Azarenka alters story as time-out row boils over” (The Daily Telegraph) “Victoria Azarenka: How to Cheat Your Way to the 2013 Australian Open Final” (Bleacher Report) “A Timeout Jeered Round the World” (New York Times) — Headlines from January 25, 2013 from (top to bottom): The Indianapolis Star, The Independent; Tampa Bay Times; The Daily Telegraph; Bleacher Report; The New York Times

The final headline in the above screenshot, “A Timeout Jeered Round the World,” is from the New York Times. The accompanying article, written by Christopher Clarey and Lynn Zinser, includes a section that really sums up why the reaction was so problematic:

If Azarenka was not legitimately injured, was calling a medical timeout cheating? Playing at the edge of the rules? Good old win-at-any-cost strategy?
To Michael F. Bergeron, executive director of the National Youth Sports Health & Safety Institute, it is part of a disturbing trend extending to youth sports: emphasizing winning over sportsmanship and developing character.
“I’m not saying everyone does that, and I’d like to think there are still players who would never do it,” Bergeron said. “It shows a lack of character, a lack of respect for her opponent and the game. You’d like to think sports would be developing those traits. But in the bigger picture, this emphasis on winning and losing over everything else is doing athletes a disservice. It’s not making them better people. It’s not making them better athletes.”

This wasn’t a debate about the tennis rulebook; it was a referendum on Azarenka’s character and being. She was, in essence, being called a callous cheater for having a panic attack. She was villainized for getting treatment for the physical symptoms she was receiving, and ridiculed for being able to gather herself enough to win one of the biggest tennis matches in her career, all within nine minutes.

I am in awe of how candidly Azarenka discusses her anxiety today

I like to think the media and the public-at-large are better at talking about mental health issues than we were a decade ago. Azarenka certainly is.

She was driving the conversation during this Australian Open. After her quarterfinal win over No. 3 Jessica Pegula, Casey Dellacqua asked Azarenka in her on-court interview to talk about the work she put in during the offseason. Instead of talking about any improvements to her forehand or serve, Azarenka talked about her mind.

“Last year, my tennis wasn’t bad, but I felt I wasn’t really mentally there to go out there. I played with a lot of fear, with a lot of anxiety, and it really was difficult to be brave and to make the right choices in the important moment when you feel anxious, when you feel hesitant. I worked a lot on my mindset,” she said.

Later, in her press conference, the great Tumaini Carayol from The Guardian asked Azarenka, “You said on the court last year you played with a bit of anxiety at times. How did you tackle that and recognize it and try to move on from it?”

Her entire answer is worth reading, emphasis mine:

VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, I don't think you recognize it right away. I think it builds up until you hit kind of a pretty bad spot where nothing kind of makes sense. You feel kind of lost. I was at the point where I couldn't find anything that I feel good about myself, not like even one sentence. I broke a few racquets after my match in Ostrava (smiling). That was kind of a very tough moment for me.
From then, I kind of tried to take it more simple. I started with not trying to be positive, just trying to be neutral, not to go negative. Accepting the anxiety that I have. Accepting the fear that I have. Kind of working through it. That was step by step.
I kept trying to go a little step forward, another challenge, another step forward. I learned how to kind of start to build a process that is step by step instead of kind of jumping to conclusion in the situation, jumping to a result, or to the goal, and really focused on step by step, which is pretty hard to do. I think it requires a lot of work, daily work, that I'm doing.
But, yeah, I'm pretty happy that the process that I'm going through makes me feel confident about myself, happy about myself, and helps me to be more open, be more accepting, be compassionate. 'Compassionate' was a very hard word for me to understand.

Later in the press conference, Catherine Whitaker, one of the hosts of The Tennis Podcast, asked Azarenka to elaborate on the fears she was experiencing. I think anyone who has battled anxiety will appreciate her answer.

VICTORIA AZARENKA: Fears of failing is a big one. To not be able to do what I want to do. So subconsciously sometimes it stops you from doing it.
I think the point of being uncomfortable is scary. I've had panic attacks before. For me to recognize the difference was a hard one.

Finally, it was David Law — another host of The Tennis Podcast, which you should all definitely listen to — who asked Azarenka specifically about what happened here a decade ago. I’ll include that full exchange below.

DAVID LAW: Thinking back to I think it was your match against Sloane Stephens 10 years ago now, you leaving the court. Now that you've gone through this process in the last six months, year, do you now understand what happened back then a little bit more? I wonder what you might have said to yourself back then.
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Do you know what happened 10 years ago? That's the thing.
It was one of the worst things that I've ever gone through in my professional career, the way I was treated after that moment, the way I had to explain myself until 10:30 p.m. at night because people didn't want to believe me. I actually can resonate what Novak said the other day.
There is sometimes, like, I don't know, incredible desire for a villain and a hero story that has to be written. But we're not villains, we're not heroes, we are regular human beings that go through so many, many things.
Assumptions and judgments, all those comments, are just shit because nobody's there to see the full story. It didn't matter how many times I said my story, it did not cut through.
Actually it's funny that you're saying that because I was thinking about it. It took me 10 (expletive) years to get over it. I finally am over that.

Phew. I’m trying to think of a really insightful way to wrap this all up, but I’m not sure I can top what Azarenka said herself. We all need to do less searching for heroes and villains, and instead strive for compassion, with ourselves and others.

Also? Bring your kid in sunglasses to pressers, if that option is available to you.

Meredith Cash @mercash22

Victoria Azarenka brought her son, Leo, to her #AusOpen post-match press conference. The 5-year-old answered a question and mostly sat quietly, but spent some time chewing his sunglasses, blowing on the mic, and picking his nose (me for @SportsInsider):

insider.comA Grand Slam champ’s 5-year-old son stole the show at his mom’s Australian Open press conferenceVictoria Azarenka and her son wore matching sunglasses to address the media after the Belarusian’s straight-set upset of No. 15 Elina Svitolina.

So, as many of you know, tennis used to be my main sport, as a fan and a writer. And back in 2013, I co-authored a tennis blog, The Changeover, with two other tennis writers. We covered the sport exhaustively, even writing “live analysis” of important matches, which used to be a much more popular Internet Thing than it is now. While I had completely forgotten this, I apparently was the one who woke up at 3:30 a.m. to live-blog the Azarenka/Stephens semifinal. So you can quite literally read my thoughts about this match IN REAL TIME. What a world! I was, like everyone else, very confused.

Yes, apparently I live-blogged the final too. I must admit: I have some good lines in there. It holds up.

"No. I Azarenka’s ‘injury’ break helps her finish off Stephens, 19” (The Indianapolis Star)

“Victoria Azarenka’s Crying Shame” (The Independent)

“Azarenka injects drama into her win” (Tampa Bay Times)

“Azarenka alters story as time-out row boils over” (The Daily Telegraph)

“Victoria Azarenka: How to Cheat Your Way to the 2013 Australian Open Final” (Bleacher Report)

“A Timeout Jeered Round the World” (New York Times)

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