Azarenka finally feeling the joy of tennis

Victoria Azarenka won two Grand Slams and ascended to the world’s No 1 ranking earlier in her career but the Belarusian says she has never felt happier on court than she does now.

The 31-year-old, who beat Iga Swiatek 6-4 6-2 on Saturday, has not dropped a set this week en route to the fourth round at Flushing Meadows.

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“I feel like I’ve always been passionate, but the joy of playing and kind of accepting the process, all of the good and bad in the process, I have never done that before in my career, even when I was No 1, when I was winning Grand Slam,” she said.