Victoria Azarenka sets sights on Madrid Open return: "I’m slowly progressing"

Victoria Azarenka provided an update on her health status after the unfortunate injury she sustained at the Miami Open. The Belarusian was forced to retire during her match against Karolina Muchova due to a shoulder injury, but she is already anticipating a potential return date.

Azarenka had started her campaign with an easy win over Anhelina Kalinina, 6-3, 6-1, advancing to the second round to face the Czech 15th seed. After a tough first set, in which Muchova took the lead 6-0, Azarenka sustained the injury after just a couple of points played at the beginning of the second set.

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The two-time Grand Slam champion was defending semifinal points at the tournament and experienced a significant loss in ranking. This week in Charleston, she was also defending quarterfinal points, which led to a sharp drop in the rankings, falling to world No. 47. By Monday, she will appear at No. 50, her lowest ranking since 2020.

The injury sustained in Miami appeared serious during the match, and Azarenka required on-court assistance. After leaving the court, there were doubts about whether it would be a long-term injury, but recently, she shared an update on her condition through her Instagram stories and discussed her upcoming return.

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“I just want to give you a quick update on my injury and my rehab. I just got off the court, clay court, and I’ve been playing for now six days this week, slowly progressing to regular fit,” the former world No. 1 stated. “I feel like the progression has been going pretty well.”

“I’m not quite a hundred percent yet, but I feel like we’ve taken the right steps to feel better, to do the right things, and already play some tennis. So, I’ll keep you updated. Hopefully, I would be ready to play in Madrid, that’s the goal, but I’ll keep you updated.”

The former world No. 1’s best result at the WTA 1000 Madrid Open was reaching the finals in 2011 and 2012, where she lost to Petra Kvitova and Serena Williams, respectively. Since then, she hasn’t advanced beyond the third round in her next nine appearances at the tournament.

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