Victoria Azarenka's son Leo steals the spotlight with an appearance on Indian Wells court, grades mother's performance

Victoria Azarenka won her third match of the 2025 WTA Tour season in commanding fashion on Wednesday (March 5), defeating local favorite Clervie Ngounoue in straight sets in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open. Following her victory, the Belarusian received a grade score from her son, Leo, who was invited to speak during her post-match on-court interview.

Before arriving in Indian Wells, Azarenka had endured a tough outing on the tour so far this year, as she had lost four of her six matches. The 35-year-old turned her fortunes around at the Palm Springs event on Wednesday, getting the better of American qualifier Clervie Ngounoue by a scoreline of 6-4, 7-6(7).

Victoria Azarenka then brought her son on Court 2 anf the latter gave his two cents on her performance. The seven-year-old hilariously remarked that his former World No. 1 mother gave a "3.5/4" performance while critiquing her return of serve during her first-round outing in Indian Wells.

"Three point five, minus returning the serve... out of four!" Leo said after the interviewer quizzed him on how highly he rated Victoria Azarenka's first-round performance.

The Belarusian and her son then signed a few balls for the crowd in what was a very wholesome moment. For what it's worth, though, this wasn't the first time that Leo took to the court to following his mother's victory.

At last year's ecoTrans Ladies Open in Berlin, he had served as a last-minute replacement for Elena Rybakina in her quarterfinal match against the 35-year-old. The Kazakh was forced to retire at 1-3 down due to injury, but Azarenka's son ensured that the Berlin crowd got their money's worth as he knocked a few balls back and forth with her.

---

Two-time champion Victoria Azarenka to take on Zheng Qinwen in the second round of BNP Paribas Open 2025

Victoria Azarenka poses with the Indian Wells title in 2012 | Image Source: Getty

World No. 35 Victoria Azarenka will next face eighth-seeded Zheng Qinwen for a place in the third round of the 2025 BNP Paribas Open. The Belarusian leads the Chinese sensation by a margin of 2-0 in their head-to-head meetings on the WTA Tour. She beat the 2024 Australian Open runner-up most recently in the third round of last year's Miami Open.

Azarenka, who won the title in Indian Wells in 2012 and 2016, will be eager to go past the third round of the Palm Springs event for the first time since 2021. In her fifteen career appearances at the tournament, the former World No. 1 has contested the title match thrice (2012, 2016, 2021), reached the semifinals once (2009), and the quarterfinals twice (2011, 2013). Interestingly, she also picked up the doubles title at the event in 2009, partnering Russia's Vera Zvonareva.