Azarenka on how her motivation has shifted over the years
Victoria Azarenka is no longer motivated by proving others wrong, but still feels hungry out on the court
Panoramic
Tuesday in Miami saw Victoria Azarenka make the semi-finals of the Miami Open for the fifth time in the past two decades, having won the title in 2009, 2011 and 2016.
With a career that has encompassed so much and seen so many highlights – Azarenka has won two Grand Slams, an Olympic medal and spent 51 weeks at No 1 in the world – the Belarusian shared what keeps her going after all these years.
“Well, I think there are two different ways to look at it,” the 34-year-old began. “One is what motivates you to win, right? For me, it definitely shifted when I was young. And especially where I come from and the way my career was going, one of my top motivations was to prove people wrong and to really, like, you say I can’t? Well, watch me. So that was my primary motivation.”
As Azarenka’s career developed, however, she found this primary source of motivation diminishing.
“After I achieved being No 1, winning Grand Slams, winning gold medal, and so many titles, and probably also becoming a parent, like, that motivation was not a priority for me. It’s not something that made me, you know, turn on, like, beast mode.”
“I needed to find what it is [that means] I don’t need to prove people wrong. I mean, I have a big list of résumé to not do that but to shift and find what it is that’s going to motivate me. That’s been, I wouldn’t say a challenge, but it’s definitely a searching process.”
Now, with almost two decades of professional tennis under her belt, Azarenka feels that she’s finding a new type of motivation to continue pushing herself.
“I feel like this year, especially after the kind of pretty challenging last year, I feel like I was able to at least find that space, and I’m working through that. It’s not an overnight thing and, you know, once you got it everything goes smoothly, but I feel like I’m in a good place where I’m on a good track.
“I am hungry, and my hunger comes from that I want to learn more and I’m trying new things and I’m okay with those. I feel like I’m accepting a little bit better, not failing but trial-and-error concept. It’s not easy, because I want to win all the time in everything I do.
“I have a little boy who is mirroring me, so I can understand how intense that can be. But yeah, so for me, I would use those in two different concepts.”
Whatever Azarenka is doing, it’s working, because the Belarusian will soon play for a spot in the final.
