'It just existed in the now': Victoria Azarenka shares one thing her son Leo's picture reminded her in emotional social media post

Former world number one Victoria Azarenka has posted an emotional message about her son. The 35-year-old is currently featuring at the Rome Open where she cemented her spot in the round of 64 after beating Camila Osorio in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-3.

That win sets up an interesting clash in the second round between Azarenka and Poland’s Magdalena Frech. It will be the second meeting between the two players in professional tennis. In the previous meeting, which came in the first round of the Qatar Open in 2024, it was Azarenka who came out on top with a score of 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

The two-time Grand Slam winner posted an emotional message on her official account on the social media platform X — previously known as Twitter — where she shared her emotions after seeing her son Leo’s picture, which reminded her of the time she spent with him during all those years. She stated that the picture reminded her of the importance of ‘reconnecting with a breath-of-fresh-air version of yourself.’

"When I saw this photo of my son Leo today, something in me stirred—something I hadn’t felt in a long time,” she wrote. “It was like being transported back to childhood, to that fleeting, magical feeling of being young, wild, and truly free. There’s something about the way he’s leaning out the window, hair tousled by the wind, eyes closed, tongue out, just feeling the moment without a care in the world—it stopped me in my tracks. It reminded me of a time when life felt lighter. When the world wasn’t resting on my shoulders. When happiness came from the smallest, simplest things, and joy wasn’t something to chase—it just existed in the now.”

She continued by writing: I’m not sure I can remember the last time I felt that way, and yet, through Leo, I see it so clearly. He’s my reminder. That it’s okay to let go sometimes. That not everything has to be so heavy. That there’s still wonder in this world, even in something as small as the wind in your face. Watching him be so purely himself—unfiltered, unafraid—it made me realize how much I long to feel that way again. To live with that same freedom, without the restraints of expectations, pressures, or the constant hum of "what comes next. It’s not about being reckless or forgetting responsibility. It’s about reconnecting with that breath-of-fresh-air version of yourself—the one who believes in joy for the sake of joy. That’s what Leo gives me. And maybe, just maybe, that’s what I want to give myself again, too.”