Victoria Azarenka discusses her battle with anxiety, overcoming fear and her Melbourne Park nadir 10 years ago

It was front page news in The New York Times; not for the tennis but the controversy that raged following her defeat of American Sloane Stephens and the so-called “Time-out Jeered around the World’’.

What was an ‘’absolute travesty‘’ according to Patrick McEnroe prompted Jamie Murray to tweet, “Withdrawal due to bad pedicure. Medical time-out at 5-4 for nervousness. I’m not LMFAO. #whoyoutryingtokid’’, and German Tommy Haas to comment, ’’So when ur tired, frustrated and stressed which most are in a slam, you can take a 10-minute break off court. Good to know that’s allowed now.’’

It was a PR disaster for Azarenka, the defending champion, who had initially suggested in both post-match TV interviews that the issue was anxiety-related, then later insisted that a rib injury rather than gamesmanship had been to blame for the medical time out that came to treat painful breathing problems, suspiciously to many, after Stephens had just saved five break points to break serve.

The incident was raised in a different context on Tuesday, after the 24th seed had wound back the clock with a commanding straight sets win over third seed Jess Pegula, to earn a return to the semis against Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.

Azarenka, 33, then spoke on the court about her current struggles with anxiety.

And presumptive parallels were drawn.

“Do you know what happened 10 years ago?’’ the feisty Belarusian demanded from behind those curious mirrored sunglasses.

Worn inside. At night. Very odd. But still.

“That’s the thing. It was one of the worst things that I’ve ever gone through in my professional career, the way I was treated after that moment, the way I had to explain myself until 10:30pm at night because people didn’t want to believe me. I actually can resonate (with) what Novak said the other day.

“There is sometimes, I don‘t know, incredible desire for a villain and a hero story that has to be written. But we’re not villains, we’re not heroes, we are regular human beings that go through so many, many things. Assumptions and judgments, all those comments, are just shit because nobody’s there to see the full story. It didn’t matter how many times I said my story, it did not cut through.

“Actually it’s funny that you’re saying that because I was thinking about it. It took me 10 (expletive) years to get over it. I finally am over that. I’m sorry for cussing by the way. I hope I don’t get fined.’’

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Whatever did happen that day only Azarenka really knows, but the broader anxiety conversation is an important one in these days of far more open discussions about mental health.

Former Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald is a genial, relaxed character who recalls the 1983 Davis Cup final at Kooyong as the most stressful build-up in his career. The 22-year-old from rural South Australia struggled to sleep the night before, and could not relax beforehand given the chaos reigning in his mind.

A “worried feeling of responsibility’’, is how he describes it, which Fitzgerald dealt with better as he got older.

“I think that’s what happens,’’ says the grandpa-to-be. “Everyone goes through it. That’s professional sport.

“I would look at it two ways: at the end of the day, it’s sport, and people in life have a lot more stress. So let’s keep it in perspective as a player: don’t get too carried with how important it is in the real world of life.

“But when you’re young and that’s what your life is, it’s the biggest thing in your life, and it’s a one-on-one situation there’s sort of nowhere to hide. You don’t want to be embarrassed, you don’t want to let anyone down, you don’t want to let yourself down, and all of these people are usually competitive people, so if they fail they’re failing at what they think they’re best at.

“I say to young kids, ‘Look, I played 17 years on the court, there was only six weeks in 17 years that I left in singles as a winner. So every other week, 25 weeks a year, every year, I left after I’d lost, so it’s a resilience game.”

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Azarenka says that what she did not recognise initially builds gradually until you reach a horrible place where nothing makes much sense.

“I was at the point where I couldn't find anything that I feel good about myself, not like even one sentence. I broke a few racquets after my match in Ostrava (last October),’’ she says. “That was kind of a very tough moment for me.’’

Instead of trying to be positive, neutral would do, as long as it meant avoiding being negative. Then it was about accepting the fear and anxiety and working through it.

So step forward, challenge, step forward. Building. Daily.

“I'm pretty happy that the process that I’m going through makes me feel confident about myself, happy about myself, and helps me to be more open, be more accepting, be compassionate. ’Compassionate’ was a very hard word for me to understand.’’

The tennis court was a trigger, and every element interconnected. Azarenka has often been told to try not to think about the stress and anxiety, but asks how it is possible to keep a blank mind during a match.

She nominates fear of failing as a big issue. “To not be able to do what I want to do. So subconsciously sometimes it stops you from doing it. I think the point of being uncomfortable is scary. I’ve had panic attacks before. For me to recognise the difference was a hard one.’’

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Iva Majoli’s first fear was of flying, so her anxiety had already started on the plane.

“Didn’t help,’’ she told CODE Sports with a laugh.

The 1997 French Open champion had access to renowned performance psychologist Jim Leuhr at the Bollettieri Academy, as did the likes of Jim Courier, Peter Sampras and Monica Seles, with Majoli recalling that Leuhr helped the players to relax, think differently, and focus on the important things

“He was great, but in the end it’s up to you how much you can take it,’’ says Majoli, who reached a career high of No.4. “It’s not easy. I think there is lots of pressure on everyone, and especially when you achieve good results at a young age and to cope with all that pressure on the side, many times it is not easy.”

“I didn’t handle it at the end very well. When I was the underdog it was all great, you have nothing to lose, and then all of a sudden you’re there and everyone wants to beat you and the pressure level is 100 times more than it used to be.

“And that’s why I always say, ‘There are champions, and then there are again little less champions’, and I think the ones that could really cope with this pressure are the ones that made many grand slams, like Roger and Serena and maybe Hingis and Graf in my days.

“I think lots of us who won maybe one slam couldn’t cope with the pressure that was coming after that, but Vika at the end won a couple, and she looks different on the court these past few matches, she looks like she’s handling the pressure differently yesterday.

“I’m really happy to see girls in the late 20s, early 30s, at the more mature age, doing well because I think that’s the best age.’’

Louise Pleming was a touring pro who is now – among other things including closely involved in the mental health sphere as a founder of RALLY4EVER, a charity which aims to create bridges between the tennis world and disadvantaged and homeless Australians, especially those with mental health problems – a commentator and the captain of Australia’s Junior Billie Jean King Cup team.

As a farmer’s daughter and one of seven kids raised in Wagga, Pleming found loneliness more of an issue during a long year on the road, but sees the stresses manifesting among the teenagers she helps now.

Pleming emphasises the need to live the cliche of focusing on the process rather than the result, of players surrounding themselves with positive reaching and being willing to ask for help and support.

“I think we’re in a society whether everything is about KPIs and everything is about success, and TV shows and social media, so there’s a lot of pressure on young girls to look perfect, to be perfect, to try to be champions, and I think we’ve really got to get that message out there about feeling good, whatever the result is,” she says.

She was slightly surprised to hear Azarenka verbalise her struggles, given her age and experience, but glad she has sought help to address them, while Majoli is also pleased that players today are more open about mental health today.

“It’s great to let it out, and I think it’s also helps them because there’s something different in your body when you do that.’’

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The quiet, understated Rybakina is a contrast to Azarenka in most ways, not least the adopted Kazakh’s tendency to keep her emotions in, even as the 23-year-old’s team would like to see few more of them come out.

One of the biggest and best servers in the game is now travelling with a fitness trainer and says she also learnt plenty from Wimbledon that she can take into her second major semi and No.2 career meeting with a baseliner who is adding more elements and more variety to her game.

Indeed, Azarenka had spoken earlier in the week of challenging herself during the off-season to go beyond where she normally would, given that the idea of being physically inadequate was another thing that was scary.

“I was afraid to fail, that I wouldn’t be able to finish certain things. It hurts my ego very much if I cannot complete something,’’ Azarenka said after the late-night finish against Lin Zhu in the fourth round.

“I don’t feel like you can turn off your personality or fears, especially in a moment of high pressure, high stress. I think those are the times where they reveal the most.”

Which, all these years later, have carried the mum of six-year-old Leo back into a third Australian Open semi, a decade after so much controversy engulfed the events of 2013.

She will see her image and name on the Champions’ Walk leading to Rod Laver Arena and the years 2012 and 2013 as evidence of her past triumphs, where the closest to the entry are the reigning titleholders Barty and Rafael Nadal.

Indeed, six-time major doubles champion Rennae Stubbs believes one of the reasons Barty returned to the sport after an indefinite break in 2016 was because of a different kind of fear.

The “if only” kind. Of not knowing how good you could really be.

“I think Ash hadn’t answered those questions for herself cos she was either scared or didn’t really know,’’ says Stubbs.

“Then once she knew how good she could be she was like ‘all right, I’m good now. Bye-eee.’’