Victoria Azarenka produced one of the finest comebacks in recent memory to reach her first Grand Slam final in seven years at the US Open after being on the brink of retirement.

Azarenka won the first set against Naomi Osaka, the eventual winner 6-1 and had the chance to go 3-0 up in the second but was denied by an excellent comeback by the now three-time champion.

The former World No.1 is pleased though with her return and believes that she 'gave everything' to attempt to come out on top at Flushing Meadows.

“It's definitely been a great three weeks of tennis. I haven't had such results in quite a long time, so I'm very excited for it,” Azarenka reflected, speaking via video chat in her post-match press conference. “Today, it's a loss. It doesn't change for me much. Of course, I would have loved to win today. It is what it is.”

“I gave everything that I could today on the court,” she added. “It didn't come my way. But I'm very proud of the last three weeks that I've been here. I felt that I progressed a lot. I've played a lot of great matches. I felt that I've tested myself physically, mentally on very difficult stages.

“It was a lot of fun for me to play, to be in the final of the US Open. I'm very grateful for this opportunity.”

"I was ready to stop, definitely" - Azarenka was set for retirement

The turning point came at the Western & Southern Open where she claimed her first title for four years in a walkover win over Osaka and she revealed also that she was ready for retirement before this past few weeks.

“I was ready to stop, definitely,” Azarenka admitted. “I haven't touched my racquet for five months. I was really not planning on coming to play until I had my personal issues resolved. So I never really made the final decision because I was going to do that after.

“So it was pretty close. But what kept me in the game is my desire to go after what I want. That's pretty much it.”

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