Victoria Azarenka took fellow tennis mum Kim Clijsters to task on Friday for claiming she was being illegally coached during her Wimbledon win over Heather Watson.
Clijsters, commentating for the BBC , said the 27-year-old Belarusian was getting signals from coach Michael Joyce in the player's box on Centre Court.
But Azarenka laughed off the accusation after sealing a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win and a spot in the last-16.
“I don't know what people are talking about, because I'm one of the players who rarely actually looks at the box,” said former World No.1 Azarenka.
“If that was coaching, I guess I missed it. I mean, 'illegal coaching' sounds like he's done something criminal.”
Azarenka, playing in her first Slam since giving birth to son Leo in December, said some players blatantly abused the 'no coaching' rule.
“I just feel that it's sometimes an unfair comment, because we see a lot of players -- I'm not going to name them -- who having conversations with their boxes, so if my coach did something or did not, obviously I missed it, which is too bad!”
Ironically, on the WTA Tour, coaches are allowed to come onto court during changeovers to give their players a pep talk.
Azarenka, a two-time Australian Open champion, said she rarely utilised that option.
“I feel you should figure it out yourself.”
Comments
SHARE