Victoria Azarenka’s US open collapse – the reasons
As temperatures soared at the US Open on Wednesday, 10th seed Victoria Azarenka was forced to retire from her second round match against Gisela Dulko after collapsing at the back of the court.
But while early speculation about Azarenka’s collapse as she trailed 5-1 in the opening set centred around the heat, the fact the Belarusian was affected so early in the match and had struggled to compete from the outset indicated there was something else at play.
And so it proved, with the player later releasing the following statement: "I was warming up in the gym prior to my match against Gisela Dulko when I fell while running a sprint. I fell forward and hit my arm and head. I was checked by the medical team before I went on court and they were courtside for monitoring. I felt worse as the match went on, having a headache and feeling dizzy. I also started having trouble seeing and felt weak before I fell. I was taken to the hospital for some medical tests and have been diagnosed with a mild concussion."
Azarenka had been among the favourites to feature deep into the tournament, having defeated a resurgent Maria Sharapova in the final in Stanford this summer to claim one of the few titles that eluded her friend and US Open top seed Caroline Wozniacki.
The 21-year-old had also reached the semi-finals in Montreal this summer but was forced to retire from her semi against Wimbledon runner-up Vera Zvonareva due to a leg injury.
She commenced her US Open campaign with a three-set victory over the unseeded Monica Niculescu but was scratchy from the start in her second round match against Dulko, double-faulting to get proceedings underway and losing the first four games of the match.
Azarenka ultimately committed 13 unforced errors as she battled for 34 minutes on the Grandstand court yesterday before crumbling behind the baseline and having to be wheeled off court.
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