There is one major WTA 500 tournament in Doha, Qatar, March 1-6. The 28 fighters are fighting it out on a hard court with a prize fund of more than 500 thousand dollars. And today we will already know the name of the winner.
Victoria Azarenka, the former World No.1 and two-time Grand Slam champion, commented the other day on her performance against Elina Svitolina 6-2, 6-4. The Belarusian, who played in Doha with a back injury, called the doctor twice during the match against the Ukrainian tennis player.
In her short interview, Azarenka talked about what she was experiencing during the match and how her back was doing in general.
“It hurt in the morning, and then it got easier. But in the warm-up, I felt a sharp pain, and I was very nervous. To be honest, I have the spectators to thank. It would have been complicated with an empty stadium. But I did my best,”
the Belarusian said.
Victoria also confessed she tried to focus on what she could do and not think about anything else. Also, the athlete attempted to find solutions and use every opportunity to play. She once again thanked the audience for helping her through it.
“I was nervous because I didn’t know how to act in such a situation. I just played rally after rally and didn’t think about the score, how long the match would last; it would be two or three sets. I’m very proud of how I coped mentally.”
Azarenka was to play Garbiñe Muguruza for the final. However, the two-time Grand Slam champion eventually withdrew from the Doha tournament due to her back injury.
Thus, world number sixteen Garbiñe Muguruza made it to the final of the competition. At the moment, she has seven wins and six defeats in the title matches. Her opponent will be either Czech tennis player Petra Kvitova or American Jessica Pegula.