#Victoria Azarenka’s ‘I live in Florida’ complaint doesn’t go over well at French Open

Former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka believes the biting cold and steady rain at Roland Garros could cause serious injury after being forced to “sit like a duck” in weather conditions she blasted as “ridiculous” in her French Open first round march.

The 31-year-old eased past Danka Kovinic, the world No. 74 from Montenegro, 6-1 6-2 in just over an hour in a match played out on an almost crowd-free Court Suzanne Lenglen due to coronavirus restrictions.

The US Open runner-up and No. 10 seed had been unhappy when rain fell steadily in the first set, adding to the misery of playing in 50-degree temperature.

“This is getting a little ridiculous. It’s eight degrees (celsius). I’m not waiting,” said Azarenka, refusing to hang around courtside “sitting like ducks” as the supervisor came out to inspect conditions.

“It’s too cold. I live in Florida, I’m used to hot weather.”

The Florida line didn’t go down well with commentator Jim Courier.

“I’d like them to have a better argument than, ‘I live in a place where it’s warm’,” he said. “To be fair, I don’t think that was a particularly strong argument from Vika. I certainly understand the players’ trepidation about playing in conditions they deem are unsafe. But the fact they are playing all around the grounds doesn’t give a lot of credence to their argument.”

After just 15 minutes, play was suspended. However, the Belarusian regained her composure when the match resumed even if she did complete it wearing black leggings and a tracksuit top.

Azarenka will face Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in the second round.

“I am glad to get it finished so I can watch the others struggle in this weather and rain,” said Azarenka.

Later, she told reporters that she agreed with 12-time champion Rafael Nadal’s belief that the chilly conditions of playing in the autumn, rather than the tournament’s traditional May-June slot, as well as the heavier balls, brought fresh challenges.

“Does it increase the risk of players getting injured? Absolutely, I think that it does. But what’s going to happen, I don’t know. I don’t really want to think about it,” she said.

“I think after the tournament there should be some real good feedback and explanations and conversations with players, that’s for a fact.”