Custody fight will keep Victoria Azarenka out of Open

Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka withdrew from the U.S. Open on Monday because she was unable to resolve a custody dispute with her infant son’s father.

The 28-year-old star from Belarus, who gave birth to her first child in December and returned to the tour in June, detailed the dispute with the boy’s father in a long Twitter post last week, saying that she might not be able to bring her son with her to New York.

“I am sadly unable to compete in this year’s U.S. Open due to my ongoing family situation that I am working through,” Azarenka said in a statement.

In last week’s post, Azarenka wrote that she separated from Leo’s father shortly after Wimbledon, where she lost to Simona Halep in the fourth round July 10.

“As we work to resolve some of the legal processes, the way things stand now is that the only way I can play in the U.S. Open this year is if I leave Leo behind in California,” Azarenka wrote, “which I’m not willing to do.”

Azarenka has not played since Wimbledon. The U.S. Open starts next Monday.

Eugenie Bouchard of Canada breezed past higher-ranked American Lauren Davis 6-3, 6-1 to reach the second round of the Connecticut Open at New Haven, Conn. Bouchard, a wild-card entry, next faces top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in the final hard-court tuneup for the U.S. Open.