Victoria Azarenka reportedly working with former British No.1 Greg Rusedski
Victoria Azarenka is reportedly collaborating with former British No.1 Greg Rusedski, with the pair set to undergo a trial period for the US Open.
Azarenka has been coached by Frenchman Maxime Tchoutakian since October 2021, with the 30-year-old set to remain as her main coach while Rusedski joins the team.
Rusedski was spotted at Azarenka’s matches this week at the WTA 1000 event in Toronto, where the Belarusian exited in the third round after being forced to retire from her match against Peyton Stearns with injury.
Not the way they wanted to end it 💜@peyton_stearns moves into the quarterfinals as Azarenka retires.
Final score: 6-4, 4-2.#NBO24 pic.twitter.com/ztWRbotu93
— wta (@WTA) August 9, 2024
The former World No.1 is supposedly working with Rusedski on a trial period until the US Open, where he reached the final back in 1997.
Azarenka is also a former US Open finalist, having been beaten to the title by Serena Williams (2012 and 2013) and Naomi Osaka (2020).
Rusedski has coached British players Kyle Edmund, Johanna Konta and Heather Watson in the past, but more recently has been a pundit and commentator on Amazon Prime and Sky Sports.
Despite there being concerns about Azarenka’s fitness after her retirement this week, the 35-year-old remains in the Cincinnati Open draw to continue her collaboration with Rusedski.
Inside the baseline…
This seems to be a very random collaboration, with Greg Rusedski spending most of his time post-retirement as a pundit on television rather than in a coaching role. However, the Brit knows what it is like to perform at the highest level and especially at the US Open, where Azarenka supposedly still sees herself as a title challenger even as one of the tour veterans in 2024.
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