Sexual abuse of young female players by older male coaches happens "right and left" on the WTA Tour and safeguarding against it must be a priority, according to former world number 1 Victoria Azarenka.
Azarenka's remarks to reporters at the US Open came after coach Pierre Bouteyre was charged in France last week with raping and sexually assaulting French player Fiona Ferro.
The allegations are from when Ferro was a teenager, and in the time period between 2012 and 2015.
Bouteyre's lawyer told French media that a relationship had occurred but denied any coercion, with 50-year-old Bouteyre describing the relationship as "a true love story".
But Ferro wrote on social media about her accusation against Bouteyre and said, "I did not consent."
The French Tennis Federation said in a statement that it was "standing by Ferro in the proceedings she has initiated against her former coach, Pierre Bouteyre".
Two-time US Open champion Azarenka, who sits on the eight-person WTA players council, said that combating abuse was the group's top priority.
"We see those vulnerable young ladies that [are] getting taken advantage of in different situations," she said.
"It's really sad and really makes me emotional," she said.
"If I had a daughter, I would have a question should she want to play tennis, that would be a very big concern in that way for me."
Azarenka, who reached the tournament's fourth round on Saturday, applauded Ferro for her bravery in speaking out, as did 21-time WTA title winner, Pam Shriver, who offered "my best support" on Twitter.
Ferro, 25, won two WTA titles and reached a high of world number 39 last year, but is currently ranked 259 and lost during tournament qualifiers last week.
"I hope this situation she's going to come out of it stronger and tennis is not ruined for her because of that," Azarenka said.
Azarenka implored journalists at the news conference to do their part to expose abuse: "Do the research, help people to open up more. Hopefully, one-by-one, try to eliminate those types of situations," she said.
Czech Karolina Pliskova, another former world number one, was unsure if the women's tennis body could help, saying she felt it was the responsibility of parents to ensure that the abuse of players does not happen.
Current world number one, Iga Swiatek, 21, said she had never faced such a situation and was keeping the faith in the WTA.
"I hope that if something like that happens, we're going to kind of be safe and have trust in WTA that they're going to take care of this stuff properly," the two-time French Open champion said.
"I'm sure they're doing that."
Wires/ABC
