Victoria Azarenka is a Belarusian professional tennis player, who is a former world No 1 in singles, having claimed the top ranking for the first time on January 30, 2012. She was the year-end No 1 in 2012 and has held the top ranking for a combined total of 51 weeks. Victoria Azarenka has won 21 WTA singles titles, including two Grand Slam singles titles at the 2012 and 2013 Australian Open.
Victoria Azarenka was born on July 31, 1989, in Minsk, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union. She started playing tennis at an early age and at age 15 moved full-time to Scottsdale, Arizona, United States, to play and practice tennis. As a junior, she won the titles at the Australian Open and the US Open in 2005. She ended the season as the junior world No. 1 and was named the 2005 World Champion by the ITF.
Victoria Azarenka had a fantastic start of her career, debuting in November 2003 in Israel. In 2005, she reached her first semifinal on the main tour in Guangzhou, China. She went from the qualifying draw of the tournament to the main draw.
In 2006, she reached the third round of the US Open and the semi-finals of the WTA 250 Tashkent Open. At the end of the year, she became the runner-up at the $75,000 Pittsburgh, PA (USA).
Victoria Azarenka continue playing fantastic in 2007, despite being only 16. She reached the third rounds of the Australian Open, WTA 1000 Indian Wells, WTA 1000 Miami Open, and Wimbledon. Moreover, she was the runner-up of the WTA 250 Estoril Open and WTA 250 Tashkent Open. Later during the year, she reached the fourth round of the US Open. During the year, she entered into Top 50 and ended the season at the world’s No 30.
In 2008, Victoria Azarenka made fantastic season, proving her great results. She reached the final at the WTA 250 Mondial Australian Women’s Hardcourts and the third round of the Australian Open. In April, she was the runner-up at the WTA 250 Livesport Prague Open, while in May reached the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 German Open. At the Grand Slam, Victoria Azarenka reached the third round of the US Open and the Wimbledon, as well as the fourth round of the French Open / Roland Garros. She reached the semi-finals of the Rogers Cup and played at the Olympic Games. During the fantastic season, she entered into the Top 20 and finished the year at the world’s No 15.
Victoria Azarenka won her first WTA trophy in 2009 at WTA 250 Brisbane International. She reached the fourth round of the Australian Open and was the runner-up at the WTA 250 Memphis Open. The year started brilliant for the young Belarusian tennis player and it was only the beginning. In March, she reached the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 Indian Wells and won WTA 1000 Miami Open, which was her highest achievement so far. Thus, she entered the Top 10. Victoria Azarenka reached the quarter-finals of the French Open / Roland Garros and Wimbledon. She took part in the Year-End WTA Tour Championships but lost in the groups. Victoria Azarenka ended the season at the world’s No 7.
In 2010, the Belarusian tennis babe reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, the semi-finals of the Rogers Cup, was the runner up at the WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship and WTA 500 Viking International Eastbourne. She also won the titles at WTA 500 Bank of the West Classic in Stanford (USA) and WTA 500 VTB Kremlin Cup. She also took part at the Year End WTA Tour Championships, but again failed to qualify for the semi-finals. She ended the season at the world’s No 10.
Victoria Azarenka made a breakthrough in 2011 by winning WTA 1000 Miami Open, WTA 250 Andalucia Tennis Experience, and WTA 250 BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open, being the runner-up at the WTA 1000 Mutua Madrid Open and the Year End WTA Championships. At the Grand Slam, she reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, the quarter-finals of the French Open / Roland Garros, the semi-finals of the Wimbledon and the third round of the US Open. She ended the season at No 3.
In 2012, Victoria Azarenka won her first Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open. She also won the trophies at WTA 500 Sydney International, WTA 1000 Qatar Total Open, WTA 1000 Indian Wells, WTA 1000 China Open, WTA 250 Upper Austria Ladies Linz. She was also the runner-up at the US Open, WTA 1000 Mutua Madrid Open, WTA 500 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart (Germany), as reached the semi-finals of the Wimbledon. On January 29, she became world’s No 1 and kept her top position during most of the season.
Victoria Azarenka won another Grand Slam trophy in 2013, again winning the title at the Australian Open. During the season, she won the titles at the WTA 500 Qatar Total Open, WTA 1000 Western & Southern Open. She was the runner-up at the US Open, WTA 1000 Internazionali BNL d’Italia, WTA 500 Southern California Open. She also reached the semi-finals of the French Open / Roland Garros. She lost her top position at the beginning of the year and ended the season at the world’s No 2.
Victoria Azarenka’s 2014 season was blighted by a foot injury which forced her to miss five months of the season and call an early end to her season in September. During the year, she reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open and the US Open. In 2015, the situation had not much changed and the foot injury followed the season of Victoria Azarenka, as she succeeded to reach the final of the WTA 500 Qatar Total Open and the quarter-finals of the Wimbledon and the US Open. Her season ended earlier and she finished the year at the world’s No 22.
In 2016, Victoria Azarenka made a fantastic start with winning the title at the WTA 500 Brisbane International and reaching the quarter-finals of the Australian Open. In March, she won the trophies at WTA 1000 Indian Wells and WTA 1000 Miami Open. She climbed back to the world’s Top 5. Victoria Azarenka announced her pregnancy through social media on July 15 and missed the rest of the 2016 season.
In 2017, Victoria Azarenka played at only two events – WTA 250 Mallorca Open and Wimbledon, where reached the fourth round. She dropped out of the Top 100 and ended the season at world’s No 210.
Victoria Azarenka returned on the court in March 2018, playing at the WTA 1000 Indian Wells. She reached the second round, being defeated by Sloane Stephens. However, later the same month she reached the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 Miami Open. By the end of the year, she did not perform good enough and her biggest achievement was the third round of the US Open.
In 2019, Victoria Azarenka was the runner-up at the WTA 250 Abierto GNP Seguros and reached the quarter-finals of the WTA 1000 Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
However, she returned on the winning path during the next year. Victoria Azarenka won the title at the WTA 1000 Western & Southern Open, was the runner up at the US Open and the WTA 500 J&T Banka Ostrava Open. Thus, she climbed back into the Top 15 and ended the season at the world’s No 13.
In 2021, Victoria Azarenka was the runner-up at the WTA 1000 Indian Wells, losing to Paula Badosa.