‘He Grunts Louder Than Me’- Victoria Azarenka Openly Pointed Out Crowd Bias Towards Rafael Nadal Over Serena Williams at Wimbledon

Tennis is an arduous sport, and this is something that goes without saying. Tennis player Victoria Azarenka took a dig at the Wimbledon crowd when she and Serena Williams played in the quarter-finals of the Wimbledon in 2015.

The sport is not just a toss of the ball to and fro on the court. It takes a lot of strength to tackle the attacks of the opponent and even more to return the ball with a higher intensity which inevitably leads to players’ outlet.

Throwback to the 2015 Wimbledon : when Victoria Azarenka hit back at the crowd 

Victoria Azarenka talked about the crowd’s reaction after the match at a press conference in 2015. She said, “It’s so annoying because guys grunt.” She mentioned the Spanish tennis player to give an example and sensitize the crowd.

She said, “I was practicing next to Rafael Nadal, and he grunts louder than me, and nobody notices that. Why? I don’t understand why. Both women on the court were trying their hardest and giving everything, and they make noises.”

An arduous match between Serena Williams and Azarenka

The Belarusian players posed a question to the people and asked, “Is that a problem for tennis?” Furthermore, she added, “It happens in every sport. So I think maybe it’s time to just put it aside and not talk about it all the time because this is not what is important when there are two players on the Centre Court.”

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She appealed for people to see the match that took an arduous amount of their strength. She said, “We’ve got to look a little bit past that and see: ‘Oh, my God, Serena played 24 aces.’ Look at the good stuff. Stop bringing this ridiculous stuff.”

What is the present status of the players?

Serena Williams won the match in three sets by a score of 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. Though the laughter by the crowd did not bother the American player, Azarenka appealed for it to be toned down.

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Tennis, as a sport, is a taxing one. It takes a huge amount of energy from the player. We cannot ignore the efforts that the player has been putting down.

Serena Williams will be back at the Wimbledon to try to clinch her 24th grand slam title. On the other hand, Azarenka cannot do so, as Wimbledon has banned the Russian and Belarusian players from playing at the grass-court major this year.