Victoria Azarenka has written a first-person assessment of her season in Sports Illustrated. In the piece she clarifies how she hired hitting partner Sascha Bajin, and discusses her emotional and physical struggles of 2015.
"Prior to approaching Sascha, I contacted Serena to make sure that she was OK with us working together," Azarenka writes. "Being honest is the only way to do business in my opinion."
Williams was not working with her longtime hitting partner during the Australian Open, but did not confirm that the two had split.
"[We] started working together after he decided to stop working with Serena," Azarenka writes.
Right after the Australian Open ended, Azarenka and her longtime coach, Sam Sumyk, ended their partnership. The Belarusian then brought in Wim Fissette (Simona Halep's former coach) in Doha. Sumyk moved over to Eugenie Bouchard's team, and is now with Garbine Muguruza.
"I will not lie and say it was easy, but now that it’s in the past, I am glad for it," Azarenka writes. "After Australia, my world as I knew it for so many year ended. I needed to find a new coach. And that was the beginning of many changes and adjustments I would see throughout my season."
Azarenka, a former No. 1, reached the final in Doha, but lost early in Indian Wells (to Maria Sharapova) and Miami (to Flavia Pennetta). The 26-year-old said she was affected by her father's surgery, as well as the big changes to her team.
"With all of the changes I had to endure in such a short period of time, I didn’t realize how much of an emotional toll it took on me. And this was just on the court!" she said. "My father underwent surgery right after my trip to Australia and that had a big emotional impact on me and added yet another layer to my unsettled state."
She then enjoyed two quarterfinal Grand Slam runs at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. But Wuhan ended up being her season-ending tournament when she aggravated an old injury while practicing with Bajin.
"Sascha and I were practicing and playing a set against each other," Azarenka said. "I was doing well—I was up 4-2 and things were getting heated. We hate playing against each other because we are both so competitive and neither one of us likes to lose. So I kept taunting him and he got angry. He started to rip every ball and as I ran after it, I felt a sharp pain in my leg. It was familiar—I knew this pain."
The world No. 22 was forced to retire in her second round in Wuhan. She's now focusing on getting healthy for next season.
"There is no limit to how far I can go, but I have to be ready," she writes. "I can’t wait to start again, but first things first: I need to get completely healthy so I can go to work!"