Azarenka admits scheduling mistakes

 

Originally published on: 01/10/13 00:00

The world No.2 suffered an opening round defeat at the Premier event in Beijing; the defending champion serving 15 double faults in a 6-4 2-6 6-4 defeat to Andrea Petkovic.

She admitted she was not ready to play following her US Open final defeat to Serena Williams last month and caught a virus last week in Tokyo, where she was beaten by Venus Williams.

“It was an awful match and a very bad performance from me, so there’s not much to say about it,” Azarenka said of her defeat to Petkovic. “It happens once, twice a year to every player, and it happened to me today.

“If I did it all again, I probably should have taken a longer break and prepared myself better. I don’t feel like I was ready to play—to be 100 per cent, the preparation wasn’t enough, I cannot deny that.

“It’s my mistake for not paying enough attention after the US Open how I managed my time and managed my health. But you cannot put yourself down too much. In the end the important thing is how you come out of it.”

With defending champion Azarenka suffering a first round defeat and world No.3 Maria Sharapova still absent with a shoulder injury, Serena Williams, who has already wrapped up the year-end ranking, could leave Asia with a lead of nearly 5000 ranking points.

Azarenka, who suffered a knee injury at Wimbledon, is scheduled to return to action at the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships which take place in Istanbul from October 22.

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