Belarusian tennis player Victoria Azarenka, a former World No. 1 player, and two-time Australian Open singles champion shut down any retirement talk that is coming her way.
Azarenka is 33 years old and has not won a Grand Slam tournament since 2013, but she is still competing at a high level with her most recent Grand Slam finals appearance at the 2020 U.S. Open.
What Azarenka Said
Suffice it to say, Azarkena does not like retirement talk surrounding any of the players not just herself.
“I see a lot of people keep asking about retirement. Once they retire, it’s like, We miss them. Let’s not waste this time before everybody retires to talk about retirement. People will let you guys know when it’s time…Like you really should mind your business.”
She Is Not Wrong
For years, people asked Roger Federer when he was retiring.
He always politely declined to offer details because he probably did not precisely know when he would retire.
The same is true with Rafael Nadal.
There are constant rumors swirling about how long he will play.
It seems likely that Nadal will play as long as his body holds up and he can be competitive.
Rafael Nadal is weary of all of us speculating about retirement so we won't speculate about retirement and will simply note that poignant wave from mid court to the Rod Laver Arena crowd as he walked very slowly off#getty pic.twitter.com/Sjyu0FLpoy
— Christopher Clarey 🇺🇸 🇫🇷 🇪🇸 (@christophclarey) January 18, 2023
In the meantime, Azarenka is correct that we need to enjoy all of the players while they are playing and not spend so much time speculating when they will no longer be playing.
We can miss them after they are done playing.
Azarenka Is Outspoken On Other Issues
Azarenka also noted that this is the 50th anniversary of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).
She is an active member of the WTA Player Council and she thinks tennis needs to evolve and move forward.
Azarenka noted that the 11-month season is also too long and needs to change.
She thinks it is not exciting for fans.
She also believes the season-ending WTA Finals need to find a permanent home after being canceled in 2020 and played in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2021, and Fort Worth, Texas in 2022.
Azarenka is back on the court on Tuesday in the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships against American Amanda Anisimova
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