Defending champ Azarenka booed
Victoria Azarenka’s tumultuous reign as the Australian Open’s two-time champion ended with a lot of shouting from her and some boos from the crowd. Australian fans love their champions but dislike bad sportsmanship, and Azarenka has not been able to shake the notion that she committed the sin a year ago with a questionably timed medical timeout. In 2013, the crowd booed Azarenka for taking what many considered to be a strategic, rather than an injury, timeout late in her semifinal against Sloane Stephens. They booed again Wednesday when she swatted a ball in frustration late in her quarterfinal loss to Agnieszka Radwanska. The No. 2-seeded Azarenka vented her frustration throughout the match by screaming at errors, smacking her thigh and her racket and even slapping the court. It was a public unraveling on Rod laver Arena, the same spot where the 22-year-old Belarussian became a two-time Grand Slam winner and achieved her career highlights. The mood carried over into her post-match news conference, where Azarenka was asked about getting angry on the court. “WhatIJ” Azarenka shot back. “She didn’t make me angry.” Another question was about the message written in big letters on her T-shirt: “Just Deal With It.” Was that her attitude for moving past the lossIJ “No. It’s just a shirt.” Asked how long it takes to get over a loss like this, which ends her 18-match winning streak at Melbourne Park, she said: “I’ll be fine tomorrow.” The performance offered a flashback to a younger Azarenka, who was more prone to public outbursts. One of the standouts was her fourth-round meltdown while playing Nadia Petrova at Wimbledon in 2009 in which she mimicked her own movements before sarcastically shaking a linesperson’s hand and telling the chair umpire, “You guys have so much power to ruin the whole match.” Since then Azarenka has matured and has worked on staying focused. She has said her coach, Sam Sumyk, has been a cornerstone to her development. When she’s in form, Azaraneka controls the match, setting the rhythm of shots and dictating from the baseline. But she never got into her game Wednesday, going down in a flurry of unforced errors — 47 in total. In contrast, Radwanska was a vision of calm.
Bartoli hasn’t left tennis behind
Marion Bartoli is not coming out of retirement. The reigning Wimbledon champion did say, however, that she may play at the All England Club this year — in the invitational legends’ doubles event. “So I will play the second week,” she said Wednesday. The 29-year-old Frenchwoman, who retired suddenly just weeks after winning the Wimbledon title last year, has started another chapter in her life but hasn’t exactly left tennis behind. Bartoli is in Melbourne for the Australian Open this week to do commentary for French television, visit with her friends on the tour, and promote a new line of jewelry she has designed for — naturally — women who play tennis. “I’m still so passionate about tennis,” she told The Associated Press. “Unfortunately I can’t play anymore because of my body, but the passion is still inside, definitely.” Bartoli struggled with all manner of injuries during her 14-year career, but she said Wednesday it was her shoulder that really prevented her from continuing. “The shoulder is basically damaged forever and I can’t serve anymore,” she said. Bartoli won Wimbledon in her 47th start at a Grand Slam tournament, the most ever played by a woman before winning a major championship. She won it without losing a set. She admits she might still be too close to the game emotionally when she’s in the broadcast booth. She said she almost cried doing commentary for her good friend Dominika Cibulkova’s quarterfinal win over Simona Halep at the Australian Open. “Just to see her in the semifinal, I was so emotional for her because I know all the steps you have to go through,” Bartoli said. “I know how she feels deep inside. I’ve been there.” She stressed, however, that she has zero regrets about her decision to leave the game — and a comeback won’t be happening. “Don’t expect me to cry or have tears in my eyes,” she said. “I have the luxury to say I walk out of the game as the Wimbledon champion and believe me, that’s not happening to everyone.”