Rusty Azarenka vows to improve

 

Originally published on: 09/05/13 00:00

The Australian Open champion lost her temper and was docked a point for smashing her racket during a  surprise 1-6 6-2 6-3 defeat to Ekaterina Makarova on Wednesday.

Playing in her first event since her withdrawal at Indian Wells in March due to an ankle injury, Azarenka cruised through the opening set, but after smashing her racket in frustration at 3-3 in the decider, suffered a meltdown to hand the world No.24 one of the biggest victories of her career.

"I have been doing mistakes that I don't do but that's what comes after not playing for a long time,” Azarenka admitted.

"So I still have another tournament before the French Open to compete in and I'm going to go back on the practice court as I always do and work hard to improve.

"I have to give Ekaterina credit. She played well. I felt like I had a lot of chances, I just didn't take them."

Azarenka had already been warned by the umpire at the end of the first set and she admitted had no-one to blame but herself for being docked a point for taking out her frustration on her racket.

"I just felt it was a weird call for me because I had no idea I had a code violation," she admitted. "But, I mean, it happened. It didn't help, for sure, but it's okay. It's my own fault," added the 23-year-old.

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