Victoria Azarenka hit one of the spectators at the 2023 Wimbledon, but not on purpose, and she probably doesn't even know about it.
After having far from ideal preparation during the grass-court season this year, the Belarusian is doing really well at the third Grand Slam tournament of the season. After winning her first two matches, she took on the 11th-seeded Daria Kasatkina and also handled that match perfectly.
Throughout the event, Azarenka delivered solid performances on and off the court. One of those moments came when she was asked a terrible question by one of the journalists, who thought that she was from Russia.
The former World No. 1 on the WTA Tour handled that situation perfectly, the same way she handled her third-round match against Daria Kasatkina, who is Russian, and her name isn't the name of the country as another blunter during this year's Championships suggested.
Azarenka won the match in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, but it was a moment in the third game of the second set that went all over the world. After winning the first set comfortably, the Belarusian faced a difficult situation early on in the second set as the score was 40-all on her serve at 1-1.
Having an overhead close to the net, Azarenka wanted to make sure that her opponent won't have a chance to catch the ball, smashing it away with full power. So hard, that the ball actually landed behind the borders of the court, on a different court.
The match was played on Court 12, which is one of the smaller courts, so it wasn't so difficult to send the ball behind the fence, but the difficulty of the shot was in hitting the target, about which the Belarusian didn't know, so precisely.
One of the fans was calmly watching a match on a different court when suddenly, he got hit by a ball directly in his head. The fan was really confused, but quickly probably figured out what happened.
It is a similar incident to what happened last year in Montreal, but back then, the players were sending the ball back and forth between Court 5 and Court 9 after one of the smashes also landed on a different court.
In her next match at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships, Azarenka will take on Elina Svitolina for a spot in the quarterfinals of the event. Both players are mothers, and the Belarusian is really looking forward to the match.
"Well, I'm very happy for her that, you know, she had this incredible experience of going through this incredible experience of having a family and the ability to come back actually very quickly on tour. Already pick up her game at the very high level."
"I haven't been seeing too many of her matches, but obviously the results are there and that are showing that she's able to play against top players and winning matches. So I also feel like -- I mean, I can't speak for her, but it seems like she's playing with not so much pressure, you know, just kind of coming back and just gaining points and everything."
"Seems that she's doing really well. So I'm very happy to see her on the tour again and playing well. If we get to play, it will be an exciting match like we always have."
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