Qualified for the round of 16 of the US Open, Victoria Azarenka appeared at a press conference on Saturday with a clear message to convey.
It was not a question of his sports performance but of the protection of professional tennis players.
The 33-year-old Belarusian, one of the figures on the circuit, reacted with force and gravity to the recent accusations of rape and sexual assault by Fiona Ferro against her former coach Pierre Bouteyre.
“In women's tennis, I see a lot of coaches who make their players dependent on them.
I think it's very dangerous.
It is manipulation.
I would like us to talk about it more often.
The coach's job is to teach his player not to need him.
I hope that the young players have the objective to depend only on themselves because it is an individual sport, ”said the 26th player in the world.
“If I had a daughter, I would ask myself the question of letting her play tennis”
The complaint filed against Ferro this summer for acts committed from 2012 to 2015, when she was aged 15 to 18, is nothing new, according to Azarenka.
“It happens here and there on the circuit, which is unfortunate.
At the players' council, it's practically our main topic.
We must offer better protection (…) We see vulnerable young players, some of whom take advantage of them.
It's really sad and emotional because I have a son and I don't see that happening on the men's circuit.
If I had a daughter, I would ask myself the question of letting her play tennis.
That would worry me a lot.
As a reminder, Pierre Bouteyre, indicted in August, assumes the materiality of the facts but denies any constraint.
The Belarusian urges journalists to dig into the stories of influence and to document these complex situations that can turn into drama in the shadow of the eyes and the courts.
“As long as the player wins, we don't see the problem.
But when the wins stop, everything gets dark and there's no one to hold your hand.
This is the moment we don't talk about.
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