Victoria Azarenka says she was bothered by her back injury during her straight-sets defeat to Irina-Camelia Begu in Rome.

Though she noted that Begu is a good player, particularly on clay, the Belarusian indicated that she was hampered on court.

“I was trying, but it didn’t work,” Azarenka said at her press conference following the match. “The back’s not good right now. We’ll see what happens. I don’t know what to tell you. I’m very disappointed, obviously, with that. I thought I was OK and was ready to play, and came back, so I’m just disappointed."

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Azarenka withdrew from the Madrid Open with the injury ahead of her third-round match, and did not want to talk about whether it would affect her going into the French Open. She has been one of the hottest players on tour this season, winning titles in Brisbane, Indian Wells and Miami. If healthy, she will be a top contender at the clay-court major despite having never gone further than the semifinals at Roland Garros.

"I just can’t look at the big picture right now," she said. "I have to be here, guys, but I don’t want to be here answering these questions ... It’s just unfortunate that I can’t play my best tennis."

Begu, who reached the quarterfinals in Madrid, has been on an impressive run.

Azarenka is No. 6 in the rankings.