'I
thought my career was over after pregnancy': Azarenka
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[May 20, 2019]
(Reuters) - Former world number
one Victoria Azarenka was afraid becoming pregnant in 2016 would end
her tennis career, but says she returned to the game stronger after
the birth of her son.
The two-times Grand Slam champion was ranked sixth in the world when
she left the WTA tour in July 2016 and returned to the circuit in
June the following year.
"I was scared, it wasn't easy," Azarenka told the BBC. "I knew I was
going to come back but my first thought was, 'Oh my god I'm never
going to play tennis again.'
"But then it was all about knowing I was going to come back, and
when I was going to come back. I felt it was a blessing, but I still
wanted to have my own dreams and my own career.
"I'm sure a lot of women won't be able to relate to me but I felt so
much better after (the pregnancy). I felt so much stronger
physically, and my body became so much better. I felt like my body
finally matured into being a woman."
Azarenka and Serena Williams, who became a mother in 2017, are part
of a group of players who campaigned for players going on maternity
leave to have their rankings protected so they did not struggle on
their return.
The WTA changed its rules ahead of the 2019 season, granting new
mothers the right to enter 12 tournaments over a three-year period
with their previous ranking to avoid meeting a seeded opponent in
the first round.
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![](../images/052019pics/sports51.jpg)
Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in action during her quarter final
match against Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova REUTERS/Matteo
Ciambelli
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Mar/14/images/ads/current/tires250x300.gif)
"We have the power to change the rules and we have done," the
29-year-old Belarusian added. "I think that's what I want my legacy
to be, that I'm fighting for women to be more comfortable, to break
those stereotypes and move the needle a little forward.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2019/Apr/03/images/ads/current/farmers_bank_sda_prom_050614.png)
"That evolution is going to continue to break boundaries and the
illusion of women in sport."
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Simon Jennings)
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