Victoria Azarenka questioned whether her coach was ‘unprofessional’ after he turned up late (Image: GETTY)
Victoria Azarenka jokingly called out her coach Franco Herrero after she arrived at training before he did. The Belarusian tennis star has been working with Herrero in the off-season as she prepares for next month’s .
The 35-year-old is a two-time champion at Melbourne Park, having won the Grand Slam in 2012 and 2013.
She is now ranked at No. 20 in the world after failing to progress beyond the fourth round of any Majors this year.
And ahead of the Australian Open, Azarenka took to to share a video of her coach waving his fist in the air as she panned the camera around a gymnasium.
And she captioned the video by writing: “For the first time in my 20+ professional career, I’m arriving at practice before a coach. @pf.francoherrero, I don’t know if I’m more professional or Franco is unprofessional.”
Azarenka competed most recently at the Guadalajara Open Akron in Mexico three months ago, but was knocked out by Kamilla Rakhimova in her first match. The veteran had succumbed to Yafan Wang in the third round of the US Open weeks earlier after previously reaching the final at Flushing Meadows on three occasions.
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Victoria Azarenka reached the fourth round of the Australian Open earlier this year (Image: GETTY)
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Last month, Azarenka posted a separate video to , which showed her undertaking gym work. The tennis star can be seen in the footage working with Herrero throwing medicine balls and using other equipment to improve her fitness.
And she captioned that video by penning: “Tried to hide from @pf.francoherrero but it didn’t work.”
Azarenka has a decent record at the Australian Open and reached the fourth round of the tournament at the start of this year, before losing to Dayana Yastremska in straight sets. But she in the third round after her rival kept questioning the line calls.
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“I think it’s something you kind of expect. She’s doing what she’s doing. It’s actually interesting because I feel like it doesn’t necessarily always affect her,” Azarenka explained after the showdown.
“When she’s winning she’s like this, when she’s losing she’s kind of like this. I think it’s just how she deals with herself on the court. I can’t speak for how she feels and why she does it. I don’t know.
“Some of the line callings, I mean it can be a bit comical. I’m like, ‘Whatever’. What are you going to do?
“Sometimes we look at the lines and you’re like, ‘Are you sure it was in when it’s close?’ When it’s pretty obvious, then you maybe don’t argue as much. I just think that’s how she is. I don’t necessarily judge.”