Wimbledon 2017: Victoria Azarenka ready for return to the big stage after giving birth seven months ago

The 27-year-old former world No 1 will be playing her first Grand Slam event for a year when she faces the American teenager Catherine Bellis in the opening round

Azarenka has twice before reached the Wimbledon semi-finals, in 2011 and 2012 (Getty )

Evonne Cawley, who lifted the Venus Rosewater Dish in 1980, is the only mother who has won Wimbledon since the First World War, but Victoria Azarenka believes she has been “only getting better as a player” since she gave birth to her first child seven months ago.

The 27-year-old former world No 1 will be playing her first Grand Slam event for a year when she faces the American teenager Catherine Bellis in her opening match next week. Although this will be only her second tournament since starting her comeback, Azarenka has twice reached the semi-finals here.

“I want to think that I'm only getting better as a player,” Azarenka said. “From the outside, people only judge your game and everything by your results. I will need time for that.

“But in terms of how I feel on the court, I think I got smarter as a player over the years, I think I'm a better player today than before. My 100 per cent in terms of effort, I think it's more demanding now because I expect myself to be present every single moment I'm on the court. Otherwise, I have another job to do. If I don't give 100 per cent on the court, there's no point in doing it.”

Azarenka said she felt fitter than ever. “I want to continue to go in that direction,” she said. “You can feel great on the practice court, but to be able to transfer that into the match I think is a real art. Sometimes it takes time. Sometimes it clicks right away. You never know. I think I'm on the right path to bring all those components together and try to play better than I ever was before.”

Asked how she is coping with being a tennis player and a mother to her son Leo, Azarenka said: “I obviously have help. My mum is here and my boyfriend. Our nanny is not here at the moment, but we manage that.


 Azarenka with fans at the WTA's pre-Wimbledon party 
 (Getty)

“Actually, I love to wake up in the middle of the night, because he wakes up hungry sometimes. But I understand that when I play it's a little bit different. I get to sleep through the night. The first three months were not easy, but he's a very good baby, so I don't have much to complain about.”

She added: “He's actually a very good traveller. I think I stress out more because I want to make sure that everything is going great. I think I'm stressing out more than anything else around me. He is totally fine. He loves the plane.”

Azarenka said there were times when she had to be a little selfish. “It’s a little bit of a mind trick that I have to do to feel OK about taking some time for myself, not feel guilty that I don't spend my every free second with my son,” she said.

“But I also feel it gives me a really good balance when I am done with my practice or my matches, that I'm able to shut off from tennis, just lose myself with my son, which was actually a pretty hard thing to do before.”

Although Azarenka had not noticed many changes around the All England Club in the two years since she was last here, she said there were plenty of new faces among the players.

“It’s felt to me like I was gone for longer because of the unfamiliar faces and players that I've seen,” she said.