I’m not going to say she exactly threw the match.
I will say this though.
This foreign born A list tennis player had a really miserable week dealing with her ex and his ridiculous demands and she needed to deal with that and not tennis, so she lost. This is someone who could have won the entire tournament.
Victoria Azarenka
Australian Open
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Former champion Victoria Azarenka bemoans ‘lack of fresh air’ in quarantine as star exits Australian Open
(CNN)Victoria Azarenka says quarantine ahead of this year’s Australian Open took its “toll” — notably a lack of “fresh air” — after she was knocked out in the first round on Tuesday.
The two-time former champion was beaten in straight sets 7-5 6-4 by debutant Jessica
Pegula and Azarenka pointed to her stunted preparation as not an ideal way to get ready for the first grand slam of the season.
The Belarusian was one of 72 players in strict isolation after arriving in the country where she was unable to leave her hotel room for two weeks.
She managed to complete just one match post quarantine, before pulling out of the warm-up event with a lower back injury.
“Was that the best preparation for me? No,” Azarenka told reporters after her defeat.
“The biggest impact for me personally has been not being able to have fresh air. That really took a toll.”
“I don’t know how to prepare after two weeks in quarantine. I don’t have a blueprint how to prepare. It’s all about trying to figure it out and I didn’t figure it out. Not this time.”
Despite starting the match well, Azarenka began to falter physically and called two medical timeouts in the second set.
Although she declined to give the reasons for the interventions, it appeared she was struggling with her breathing.
“I am disappointed that I wasn’t able to perform that I knew I could. That’s a bit hard to accept today because I knew I can play better, a lot better,” added Azarenka, who won the Australian Open title in Melbourne in 2012 and 2013. – Source
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