Victoria Azarenka was ordered to take off her shirt, which she famously wore before her semi-final defeat at the Australian Open on Thursday night.
After a nail-biting first set, Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina served a break point and ran away with the match to win 7-6, 6-3.
Before the match, Azarenka walked into the Rod Laver Arena wearing a Paris Saint-Germain soccer jersey, but was quickly told to eject by referee Alison Hughes.
The 33-year-old wore a PSG shirt to the court before several of her matches at Melbourne Park, which she said she wore because it was a club her son Leo supported and wanted to play for one day.
Azarenka wore her jersey during the press conference, but the referee told her to take it off and warm up in her playing clothes.
The two-time Australian Open champion complied with the guidelines and admitted it was a matter of sponsorship.
“They told me to take it off twice because I had a different shirt on,” Azarenka said at the post-match press conference. “I think it’s about the sponsorship. I guess the logos are too big… I know I’m not allowed to play in that. I knew these kinds of things.
But I still chose the court that I want to step on the court. I do it for my own reasons. My son wore the white jersey to practice today and I tried to wear the white jersey for my match but I couldn’t. So it’s okay.”
Victoria Azarenka hits the ball in frustration at the Australian Open.
Elena Rybakina advances to Australian Open final.
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Victoria Azarenka hits a backhand in the Australian Open semifinals.
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Azarenka was competing to become the fourth woman to win a Grand Slam after becoming a mother, but she fell short.
In Saturday’s final, the Belarusian beat Poland’s Magda Linnet 7-6, 6-2, and Rykabina will play Aryna Sabalenka in the other semi-final.
Azarenka had no feelings for reporters after her loss in straight sets.
In her post-match press conference, the veteran was heavily questioned by Russian nationalists for holding a rally in support of President Vladimir Putin outside the Rod Laver Arena.
On Thursday, Novak Djokovic’s father Serdan appeared. A photo was taken with the team members.Including a man wearing a t-shirt with the “Z” war symbol on it. The rally following Djokovic’s win over Andrey Rublev on Wednesday night was a major talking point, but Azarenka, playing under a neutral flag as a Belarusian player, batted away a series of questions.
Azarenka Exchange with a reporter Her response was frosty when she said it might have been “spun.”
“Maybe you’re asking me about things that someone says are under my control, but I don’t believe that,” she said. “I don’t know what you want me to answer. If it’s a provocative question, you can spin the story any way you want.
She said the off-court scandal had nothing to do with the players in the tournament.
“Whatever the answer I’m going to give you now, it will turn in any direction you want,” she said. “So does it bother me? What worries me is that there are real things going on in the world.