Victoria Azarenka successfully combines motherhood and pro tennis career

This is a sponsored post by Women’s Tennis Blog’s long-time partner Own the Zone, famous for their bright-colored OTZ band dampeners, that won’t fly off your racquet, won’t dry out quickly in the sun, lose their elasticity or crack after repeated use. New mom on tour Victoria Azarenka uses a band dampener to support her game and prevent tennis elbow, as we could see during her strong showing at Wimbledon 2017, where she reached the fourth round while playing just her second tournament since maternity leave.

Victoria Azarenka hadn’t played professional tennis since last year’s French Open, as in July she announced pregnancy with her first child. The two-time Grand Slam champion gave birth to son Leo in December and Wimbledon was only her second event since returning to the tour at last month’s Mallorca Open.

The Belarusian’s first Grand Slam since the comeback can be marked as success, as she made the second week with victories over rising teenage star CiCi Bellis, 15th seed Elena Vesnina and Heather Watson, before the eventual loss to second-seeded Simona Halep 7-6(3) 6-2 in the fourth round. We should take this moment to give Azarenka credit for a very determined and prosperous return!

While Azarenka as a mother is happy to be an example to others, the former world No.1 also says female athletes should not question their ability to do it.

I just think that it’s not as scary as people think sometimes. It’s a conscious decision that you have to make to give yourself that break and be able to work hard and start really, you know, physically, a little bit from zero. But I do believe that if you’re very passionate about what you do and what you love to do, that you can do that.

Azarenka hits the ball very hard. In order to dampen the shock from her striking the ball, Vika uses a band vibration dampener. Five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova also plays with a band dampener. This piece of equipment is tied to the bottom strings of the racquet and it’s the best type of shock absorber. It wont’t fly off your racquet and it can help prevent tennis elbow.

For more than ten years, Own the Zone has been making what many people call the “World’s Best Dampener”. The OTZ bands come in nine colors and dampen vibration 35% better than ordinary bands. Mix and match your bands this summer and get those good vibrations. Check us out at http://www.ecogripzone.com/