Azarenka: 'Serena Williams and I often talk about motherhood'

and are close friends and they recently became mothers. The Belarusian gave birth to a son called Leo in December 2016, then in September 2017 the Americans first daughter, Olympia, was born.

In an interview, Azarenka spoke about her relationship with Williams: We both want to win, (but) to claim the title as a mum Im not sure its a stronger competition in that way. I think its a bigger dream for both of us to do because its going to be very special, so I think it would mean a lot to both of us, said Azarenka.

We talk about motherhood – everybody faces different things, and you want to know another player, or another mothers story, and what you can do better. Or sometimes to hear somebody say oh, I struggle with that, too, makes you feel, OK, Im not alone, and everybody goes through that, so thats very helpful. Mixing tennis and motherhood is not easy for Azarenka, who has also been dealing with custody issues: It has been a challenge, especially last year for me to work it out, and I hope Im doing a little better for myself this year, the former world No.

1 explained. But its a beautiful thing now that there are a lot more kids (on tour), and I got to know a lot more players as parents, rather than just tennis players, so its been an interesting change. ALSO READ: Rafael Nadal: Worse players than David Ferrer won a Grand Slam title