"Why is this so funny" - Victoria Azarenka amused by Casper Ruud's struggle to hold mic at Ultimate Tennis Showdown 2023

Victoria Azarenka was left amused by Casper Ruud's struggle to hold his mic during an interview at the 2023 Ultimate Tennis Showdown in Frankfurt, Germany.

Ruud, making his debut at the tournament, was up against Grigor Dimitrov during the second leg of the 2023 UTS. Ruud, nicknamed 'The Iceman,' won the first two quarters, but 'The G-Unit' won the third and fourth quarters to level the tie. The Norwegian managed to clinch the fifth quarter, called 'sudden death,' to win the match, 15-9, 18-15, 11-17, 10-13, 2-0.

After the second quarter, Ruud was being interviewed by commentator Jenny Drummond, who asked him to hold the mic a bit higher so she could hear his responses clearly. Ruud, tired after some grueling play, initially held his mic near his forehead, creating a comical moment. He eventually placed the mic near his mouth.

Belarusian tennis star Victoria Azarenka was left amused by Ruud's antics and reacted to the viral clip on X, writing,

"Why is this so funny."

The Frankfurt leg of the 2023 UTS was won by Andrey Rublev, aka 'Rublo,' who bettered Grigor Dimitrov in the final. The first leg of the 2023 edition was played in Los Angeles in July, where Yibing Wu defeated Taylor Fritz in the final. The third and final leg will be played in Seoul, South Korea, in December.

Victoria Azarenka to next compete at Guadalajara Open 2023

Victoria Azarenka

Victoria Azarenka is currently in Mexico to play in the second edition of the Guadalajara Open, where she is seeded No. 10. The two-time Grand Slam champion will kick off her campaign against young American prodigy Robin Montgomery. By seeding, Azarenka is projected to come up against No. 7 seed Veronika Kudermetova in the quarterfinal. World No. 7 Ons Jabeur and World No. 9 Maria Sakkari are the top seeds at this year's competition.

Victoria Azarenka reached the semifinal of the WTA 1000 tournament last year as an unseeded player. She defeated Elina Avanesyan, No. 1 seed Paula Badosa, No. 13 seed Madison Keys, and No. 5 seed Coco Gauff before being bettered by eventual champion and No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula. She earned 350 points as a result.

2023 has been a mixed year for the World No. 23, who kicked off the year with a semifinal appearance at the Australian Open, where she defeated Pegula and Keys en route to her first Major semifinal since the 2020 US Open. However, Azarenka has struggled to make any mark on the WTA Tour since then. Her next best result was a fourth-round appearance at the Wimbledon Championships.