Victoria Azarenka was ordered to take away a shirt she was carrying in weird scenes earlier than her semi-final loss on the Australian Open on Thursday evening.
After a nailbiting first set, reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina claimed the tie-break and ran away with the match, successful 7-6 6-3.
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Before the match, Azarenka walked onto Rod Laver Arena carrying a Paris Saint Germain soccer jersey however was swiftly instructed by umpire Alison Hughes to take away it.
The 33-year-old had worn the PSG shirt onto courtroom earlier than a number of of her matches at Melbourne Park, explaining she wears it as a result of it’s the membership her son Leo helps and needs to play for at some point.
Azarenka had additionally worn the jersey throughout press conferences, however the umpire instructed her to take away it and heat up within the outfit she was going to play in.
The two-time Australian Open champion complied with the directive and stated she believed it was a sponsorship challenge — though Azarenka and PSG are each sponsored by Nike.
“They told me to take it off twice because I had a different shirt,” Azarenka stated in her post-match press convention.
“I think it’s the issue with the sponsorships. I guess the logos are too big … I know that I’m not allowed to play in that. I knew those type of things.
“But I can still step on the court in what I want to step on the court. I do it for my own reasons. My son wore the white jersey today to his practice, and I tried to wear a white jersey to my match but couldn’t. So that’s OK.”
Azarenka was vying to grow to be simply the fourth girl to win a grand slam after turning into a mom however fell simply wanting the uncommon feat.
Saturday’s closing will see Rykabina tackle Aryna Sabalenka after the Belarusian beat Poland’s Magda Linette 7-6 6-2 within the different semi-final.
Azarenka was in no temper for journalists after her straight units defeat.
The veteran was requested a prickly query in her submit match press convention about Russian nationalists staging an indication in help of President Vladimir Putin outdoors Rod Laver Arena.
On Thursday it emerged Novak Djokovic’s father Srdan posed for a photograph with members of the group, together with one man carrying a T-shirt that includes the ‘Z’ pro-war image. The demonstration, which adopted Djokovic’s win over Andrey Rublev on Wednesday evening, was a crucial dialogue level, nevertheless, Azarenka, who’s taking part in below a impartial flag as Belarusian participant, batted away the sequence of questions.
Azarenka’s trade with one reporter grew to become frosty as she stated her response was more likely to be “spun”.
“You’re asking me about things that maybe somebody says are in my control, but I don’t believe that,” she stated.
“I don’t know what you want me to answer. If it’s a provocative question, then you can spin the story however you want.”
She stated the off-field scandal has nothing to do with the gamers on the match.
“Whatever the answer I’m going to give it to you right now, it’s going to be turned whichever way you want to turn it to,” she stated.
“So does it bother me? What bothers me is there’s real things that’s going on in the world.”
Source: www.news.com.au
