Victoria Azarenka slams tennis journalist for using inappropriate picture of Ekaterina Alexandrova to report on her Qatar Open win

Victoria Azarenka recently called out a tennis journalist for using an inappropriate picture of Russian player Ekaterina Alexandrova while informing fans about her opening round win at the 2023 Qatar Open.

Alexandrova scored a convincing 6-1, 6-2 win over former World No. 1 and 2017 Qatar Open champion Karolina Pliskova in the first round of the tournament. Tennis journalist Jose Morgado was quick to share the news of the impressive victory on his social media handle. However, his choice of photo to accompany the news is what caught all the attention instead.

In the since deleted tweet, the journalist posted a screen capture from the match showing the final score. Alexandrova was in a bent over position in the image, as she was putting her tennis equipment back in her bag after the win.

Victoria Azarenka took offense to the journalist’s decision and openly expressed her annoyance.

“What a choice of picture for the tweet,” she remarked.

While Victoria Azarenka’s opinion received backing from numerous followers, Jose Morgado expressed disagreement with the allegedly unwarranted scrutiny.

“Seriously? It was the first frame where the score/time graphic appeared on the screen,” he wrote in a reply to Azarenka's tweet.

“Didn’t realize till I saw your tweet now. Deleted. Can’t really post anything here these days,” he went on.

Victoria Azarenka and Jose Morgado on twitter

That said, Morgado apologized for the incident in another tweet later on.

“Deleted. This was the relevant information to illustrate what I tweeted. Not the background (obviously). Unfortunate and unintentional. Sorry. (It’s been a tough day…),” he wrote.

Morgado was also criticized earlier in the week for allegedly misreporting French player Ugo Humbert’s muscle tear. Many fans claimed that the journalist was trying to mock Novak Djokovic’s hamstring injury by mentioning that Humbert had also suffered a hamstring tear.

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Victoria Azarenka and Ekaterina Alexandrova proceed to the second round of the Qatar Open

The Belarusian at 2023 Qatar Total Open

Both Victoria Azarenka and Ekaterina Alexandrova are through to the round of 16 at the WTA 500 Qatar Open.

While Ekaterina Alexandrova did so by defeating qualifier and 2017 champion Karolina Pliskova, two-time Qatar Open winner Azarenka got the better of Turkey’s Ipek Oz 6-1, 6-1.

Azarenka has now set up a clash with Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Belinda Bencic, who is vying for her third title of the year and second in two weeks, after her Abu Dhabi Open win on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Alexandrova will face off against former World No. 3 Maria Sakkari for a spot in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open.