Michael Joyce split with Victoria Azarenka at the end of last year due to Belarusian player's ongoing issues for her son's custody. In a recent interview, Joyce praised Azarenka's character despite all the difficulties she is dealing with.

'She’s been going through basically a living hell but to be able to keep that motivation shows why she was a champion and why can get back to the top', Joyce said. 'She looks in good shape, thin. She’d be in court all day, couldn’t play for three days, then called me at 7 PM to hit two hours..she never lost motivation.' In the future Azarenka can still be at the highest level according to Joyce: 'The thing that impressed me the most was her determination to get back to the top.

She knows her game better than anybody. She knows what she needs to do.'