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33-Year-Old Victoria Azarenka’s 7-Word Tweet That Triggered Madrid Open Organizers to Thwart Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, and Others From Speaking Up

Published 05/10/2023, 2:32 PM EDT

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USA Today via Reuters

The tennis superstars, Carlos Alcaraz, and Aryna Sabalenka recently celebrated their birthdays during their respective triumphs at the Madrid Open. However, the tennis community was left fuming when they witnessed the WTA player getting a smaller cake than her male counterpart. Taking note of the disparity faced by women’s players, Victoria Azarenka later voiced her frustrations on Twitter.

A few days later, the Belarusian tennis player herself became the victim of a similar discrepancy in the tournament as she was not given the opportunity to deliver a post-match speech after clinching the doubles WTA 1000 title. The American tennis players, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula also witnessed the prejudice as they have now joined forces with her peer in order to lash out at the tournament.

Coco Gauff  expresses her frustrations over the stark discrepancy in the tennis circuit

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Azarenka recently took to Twitter to shed light on the cake size disparity faced by her compatriot. Victoria Azarenka said, “Couldn’t be more accurate on the treatment,” while she shared a photo collage of Carlos Alcaraz, and Aryna Sabalenka in which they were spotted posing with their respective cakes of different sizes.

After expressing her opinions on the matter, the Belarusian tennis star herself also got involved in a similar contentious incident after she won the doubles event of the Madrid Open. Despite her remarkable triumph, Azarenka didn’t get to speak on the podium while lifting the trophy.

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However, her male counterparts, Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov were given the prestigious opportunity at the ATP doubles event in Madrid. Many prominent figures like Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula have now come forward to criticize the organizers of the clay-court event.

During her pre-tournament conference in Rome, the 19-year-old player said,  “People probably know what it was. But, yeah, that’s what I was told. I said that situation for me was not deep enough to not have a trophy ceremony. I think that we worked hard to get to that final.”

Jessica Pegula has also commented on the matter

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Gauff’s compatriot, Jessica Pegula also witnessed the stark discrepancy faced by the WTA players at the renowned clay court event. She also vented out at her pre-tournament conference in Rome as she lashed out at the idea of not giving the customary post-match at the podium.

She also mocked the organizers by saying, “‘Wow, this is a great decision we’re going to do and there’s going to be no backlash against this.’”

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What do you think of Gauff and Pegula’s opinion on the matter? Let us know in the comments section.

WATCH THIS STORY: Serena Williams pays tribute to Roger Federer.

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Written by:

Anurag Gusain

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Anurag Gusain is a tennis writer at EssentiallySports. Being a huge tennis fan, he enjoys watching the Spanish legend Rafael Nadal dominate other superstars on the ATP Tour. His coverage of Nadal's 14 French Open titles has been hailed as some of the best in the business, showcasing his talent for storytelling and his ability to capture the essence of the sport.
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Edited by:

Sherjeel Malik