MADRID, SPAIN - Former No.1 Victoria Azarenka has confirmed that she has been cleared to play the clay and grass season in Europe and the United Kingdom. After scoring her first win on clay in two years at the Mutua Madrid Open, the two-time Australian Open champion told reporters she is definitely planning to play through Wimbledon.
"I'm playing all the way through Wimbledon," Azarenka told reporters after her 6-3, 6-3 win over Aleksandra Krunic in the first round of Madrid. "I play Rome, I play Paris, I'm going to play Mallorca, I'm going to play Wimbledon. That's my schedule for the next couple months. It's definite."
"I found out close to the end of April that I could go. But I tried to stay focused on my training a lot more this time. I've done a little bit of better preparation overall. I'm trying to get a little bit more stability right now."
Azarenka has played an abbreviated schedule since giving birth to her son Leo in December 2016. Azarenka returned to the tour last summer on the grass in Mallorca and Wimbledon, but was forced to remain on the sidelines due to family issues for the next seven months. She played her first two events during the Sunshine Swing in March, making her return in Indian Wells, and put together an impressive run to the semifinals of Miami.
"Miami gave me a lot of self-satisfaction," Azarenka said. "Without having that preparation, without having stability or anything like that, I'm still able to produce a high level of tennis. It does give me just that boost that I can do anything I want. I just need to be able to have stability, to practice, and to play matches."
"I feel like I'm repeating myself every tournament, but it is what it is (smiling): I have to play more matches. I feel that I'm moving quite well and I need to be able to do that throughout the tournament. That is only going to come with matches.
"As much as I can play, I will."
Not surprisingly, the 28-year-old said she was ecstatic to get the news she would be able to travel to Europe with her son. While she's been training on green clay in California, nothing beats the European red clay.
"On green clay in the States, it's horrible, which made me appreciate the red clay much more," Azarenka said with a big grin. "When I came here, all the bad bounces looked amazing. So maybe it's a good thing."
"I was so happy to be on that plane, you have no idea. You have no idea how happy I was to just have a fresh European air, European food, everything."
"[Leo] absolutely loves it. It's such a beautiful city, Madrid, with so many attractions for kids. It's actually amazing. We've been to so many different playgrounds, to shows, to magic shows in the park. It's free. It's amazing.
"He's loving it. He is loving the food here, I tell you that."
Azarenka plays her second round match against No.6 Karolina Pliskova. The two faced off in Miami, with Azarenka winning 7-5, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.
"It's going to be a little bit different scenario since it's clay," Azarenka said. "It's a pretty fast-paced clay, so in a way I think it's going to be pretty similar. She's not the type of player you play a lot of balls against. It's more about one, two shots, who takes the opportunity first, making a lot of returns, because she has a great serve.
"And obviously winning Stuttgart, she's coming with a lot of confidence. I just need to try to focus on myself, try to be aggressive, dominate her game, and see what happens.
"But I'm here to really enjoy and see what I can do. I can't raise my expectations too high, even though I want to. I need to be patient. I think for me this year, what I need to do is to be patient and give myself a break.
