Victoria Azarenka battled migraines during her second-round match against Clara Burel at the 2024 US Open on August 28. The Belarusian was in a commanding position in the contest when she called for medical support.
Azarenka, the 20th seed, raced past Burel in the opening set by breaking the Frenchwoman twice, who came back in the second by committing fewer unforced errors and broke Azarenka to take a 1-3 lead.
During the changeover, Azarenka was seen in tears and called for a doctor after complaining about migraines. During the nearly five-minute stoppage, the doctor checked the Belarusian’s blood pressure and gave her medication. Despite the pain, Azarenka returned to the court and quickly turned over Burel’s lead to win the match 6-1, 6-4.
The 35-year-old did not celebrate her victory much and quickly saddled in her chair. She wrapped a towel around her head and put on a pair of sunglasses to mitigate the pain. In her on-court interview, Victoria Azarenka said she had no idea how she finished the match, let alone win it, and hoped that her “chronic migraines” would get better.
“I don’t know how I played the match. I just tried to, you know, hope that it’s going to get better a little bit. I’m wearing glasses for a reason right now. It looks probably weird and awkward on TV. But I have a chronic migraine sometimes and it couldn’t be a worse time to start it, on the match. It’s just tough to deal with,” Azarenka said.
The two-time Grand Slam champion later took to social media platform X to give fans a peek into her recovery from the “absolute misery” of migraines, sharing a picture of herself on a bed with sunglasses still on.
“Migraines are absolute misery, whoever had them ever probably can relate,” Azarenka tweeted.
Victoria Azarenka to face Wang Yafan in US Open 3R
Victoria Azarenka will continue her journey at the 2024 US Open against Wang Yafan in the third round on August 30. Azarenka bettered Ukrainian qualifier Yulia Starodubtseva and Clara Burel in New York this year. Meanwhile, Wang registered impressive wins over ninth seed Maria Sakkari and Diane Parry to reach US Open third round for the first time in her career.
Azarenka and Wang have faced each other once on the WTA Tour, with the former winning their contest at the 2024 Citi Open in Washington, DC. The winner of the third-round contest could face 26th seed Paula Badosa in the fourth round.
Azarenka has a good track record at the US Open, finishing runner-up at the tournament three times (2012, 2013, and 2020). Moreover, the former World No. 1 has 48 main draw wins at the US Open in her career, the most of any players in the women’s singles draw at the 2024 edition.
