Victoria Azarenka
Victoria Fiodaraŭna Azarenka is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, having held the position for a total of 51 weeks. Azarenka has won 21 WTA Tour-level singles titles, including two majors at the 2012 and 2013 Australian Opens, becoming the first Belarusian to win a major singles title.
Azarenka is also a three-time major finalist at the US Open, finishing runner-up to Serena Williams in both 2012 and 2013 and to Naomi Osaka in 2020. In singles, she has won six Premier Mandatory tournaments, four Premier 5 tournaments, and the singles bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics. She was runner-up at the 2011 WTA Finals to Petra Kvitová. She finished with a year-end top 10 singles ranking from 2009 to 2013.
Azarenka has won 10 WTA Tour doubles titles, reached four major finals in women's doubles, and reached a career-high ranking of No. 7 in the world on 7 July 2008. She has won three mixed doubles titles — two major titles at the 2007 US Open with compatriot Max Mirnyi and the 2008 French Open with Bob Bryan, and the Olympic gold medal in mixed doubles at the 2012 London Olympics with Mirnyi.
Early life
Early life
Azarenka was born in Minsk, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union to Alla and Fedor Azarenka. Her tennis idol is German former player Steffi Graf. In an interview, Azarenka said "Graf's Calendar Golden Slam in 1988 is my biggest motivation."Career
Azarenka debuted on the ITF Junior Circuit in November 2003 in Israel, winning one doubles title with countrywoman Olga Govortsova. At Wimbledon, Azarenka reached the semifinals of the girls' competition, only to be defeated by eventual runner-up Ana Ivanovic, despite having two match points in the marathon third set. She continued to participate in ITF tournaments in 2004, and at the end of the season she had a singles rank of 508 on the WTA Tour.At age 15, Azarenka moved full-time to Scottsdale, Arizona, United States, from Minsk, Belarus, to train and live. In this she was aided by National Hockey League goalie Nikolai Khabibulin and his wife, who was a friend of Azarenka's mother.
Azarenka had a successful year in 2005, winning two junior Grand Slams: the Australian and US championships. She ended the season as the junior world No. 1 and was named the 2005 World Champion by the ITF, becoming the first Belarusian to do so. In addition, 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, where she defeated Martina Suchá and Peng Shuai, before losing to the eventual champion Yan Zi.
Junior Slam results:
- Australian Open: W
- French Open: –
- Wimbledon: SF
- US Open: '''W'''
2006: US Open third round
At the 2006 US Open, she had her first win over Myskina in the first round, and lost to Anna Chakvetadze in the third round, her best result in a Grand Slam event to that date. In her next tournament, Azarenka reached her second pro-level semifinal in Tashkent, losing to Sun Tiantian. She finished the year reaching the final of an ITF event in Pittsburgh, losing to Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak.
2007: First WTA final
Ranked world No. 96, Azarenka began the year by playing two tournaments in Australia. She lost in the second round of qualifying at the Moorilla Hobart International. At the Australian Open, Azarenka reached the third round of a Grand Slam singles tournament for the second consecutive time, where she lost to world No. 11 Jelena Janković in straight sets.She was upset in the first round of the French Open by Karin Knapp of Italy, and at Wimbledon, she lost in the third round to 14th-seeded Nicole Vaidišová.
At the US Open, Azarenka upset former world No. 1 Martina Hingis in the third round, before 2004 US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova beat her in the fourth round. In mixed doubles, Azarenka and countryman Max Mirnyi won the title, defeating Meghann Shaughnessy and Leander Paes.
She ended her year at the Tier I Kremlin Cup in Moscow, where she defeated world No. 4, Maria Sharapova, in the second round, in their first meeting. She then lost to the eventual winner of the tournament, world No. 14 Elena Dementieva, in the quarterfinal. At the same tournament, Azarenka and her doubles partner Tatiana Poutchek, also of Belarus, lost in the final to the world No. 3 team of Liezel Huber and Cara Black, in three sets. Azarenka's results at the Kremlin Cup elevated her rankings to career highs of world No. 27 in singles and world No. 29 in doubles.
2008: Australian Open final in doubles
Azarenka began the year at the Australian Women's Hardcourts tournament in Gold Coast. Unseeded, she reached the semifinals, where she beat fifth-seeded Shahar Pe'er of Israel, Azarenka's sixth top-20 victory. In her third career WTA Tour final, she lost to Li Na, but the points she earned in this tournament were enough to improve her ranking to a career-best world No. 25.Azarenka was seeded 26th at the Australian Open. This was her first appearance as a seeded player in a Grand Slam singles tournament. She showed no ill effects from a leg injury while winning her first two matches, but lost in the third round to seventh-seeded, defending champion and future rival Serena Williams. In doubles, Azarenka and her partner Pe'er were seeded 12th. They made it to the finals, before losing to the unseeded team of Kateryna and Alona Bondarenko.
Azarenka entered the French Open as the form player of the clay court season, having reached the semifinals in Berlin and the quarterfinals in Rome. Seeded 16th, she won her first three matches in straight sets, for the loss of only six games. In the second round, she defeated Sorana Cîrstea of Romania, before defeating 18th-seeded and future French Open champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy in the third round. She then lost to fourth-seeded Kuznetsova in the fourth round. Azarenka teamed with American Bob Bryan to win the mixed doubles title at the French Open, defeating the top seeded team of Katarina Srebotnik and Nenad Zimonjić in the final.
At Wimbledon, Azarenka was seeded 16th in singles and 6th in doubles. In singles, Azarenka was defeated by 21st-seeded Nadia Petrova of Russia in the third round in two close tiebreaks. In doubles, Azarenka and Pe'er reached the quarterfinals, where they lost to the top-seeded team of Cara Black and Liezel Huber. At the Olympic tennis tournament in Beijing, Azarenka lost to Venus Williams in the third round. Azarenka was seeded 14th at the US Open, but was defeated by 21st seed Caroline Wozniacki in the third round.
2009: Three titles, top 10, major doubles final
Azarenka began the year at the Brisbane International as the second seed. She defeated Kateryna Bondarenko, Jarmila Groth, Lucie Šafářová, and Sara Errani, all in straight sets to reach her fifth career final. In the final, Azarenka defeated third seed Marion Bartoli to win her first WTA career title. Azarenka was seeded 13th at the Australian Open. She advanced to the fourth round for the first time, winning the first set against world No. 2 Serena Williams, before she retired citing heat stress.At the Cellular South Cup in Memphis, Azarenka was seeded second. She won her second WTA title by beating her doubles partner and top seeded Caroline Wozniacki in the final. Afterwards, Wozniacki and Azarenka won the doubles title, beating Michaëlla Krajicek and Yuliana Fedak in the final. At the BNP Paribas Open, Azarenka was seeded eighth and reached the semifinals, where she lost to her doubles partner and eventual champion Vera Zvonareva. Because of her performance at this tournament, Azarenka improved her singles ranking to a career-best world No. 10. She was the second woman from Belarus ever to be ranked that high, following Natasha Zvereva who was ranked world No. 5 in the late 1980s. At the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, Azarenka was seeded 11th. She defeated world No. 1 and two-time defending champion, Serena Williams, in the final in straight sets. This was Azarenka's first Tier I or Premier Mandatory event title. Azarenka also became the sixth teenage female singles champion in the history of this tournament, with the others being Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Venus Williams, and Gabriela Sabatini. By winning this tournament, Azarenka's ranking increased to a new career high of world No. 8.
Her next tournament was on clay at the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, where she lost to Gisela Dulko in the second round. At the Italian Open, Azarenka lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinals. At Roland Garros, Azarenka was seeded ninth. She ousted defending champion Ana Ivanovic in the fourth round, and advanced to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, where she fell to top seed Dinara Safina in three sets. With her partner Elena Vesnina, Azarenka made the final of the ladies doubles at Roland Garros. In the final, they lost to the Spanish pairing of Garrigues and Ruano Pascual. She withdrew from her first match at the Aegon International, the warm-up for Wimbledon, citing a hip injury. Azarenka was seeded eighth at Wimbledon. She fell to second seed and eventual winner Serena Williams in the quarterfinals.
Receiving a bye in the first round at the Los Angeles, Azarenka fell to Maria Sharapova. In Cincinnati, Azarenka lost to Jelena Janković in the third round, committing 11 double faults. At the Rogers Cup in Toronto, she was seeded ninth. She lost to returning Kim Clijsters in the second round. At the US Open, Azarenka was seeded eighth. She fell to Francesca Schiavone in the third round. Seeded eighth at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, she lost to Li Na in the quarterfinals, in a third set tiebreak, giving up a 5–1 lead in the first set. In her next tournament the China Open, Azarenka was seeded ninth. She lost in the second round to recent Tokyo champion Maria Sharapova, while serving for the match twice. She intended to play the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, but she withdrew. At the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Azarenka vanquished Jelena Janković in her first-round robin-match. In her second match, however, Azarenka was defeated by Caroline Wozniacki. Azarenka failed to convert a match point in the final set in which she led by a break on four occasions. Azarenka also conceded her serve at 5–5, to leave Wozniacki serving for the match after receiving a point penalty for racket abuse. Due to her loss to Wozniacki, Azarenka had to defeat second alternate Agnieszka Radwańska to qualify for the semifinals. She led with a double break, before going on to lose nine of the next ten games, eventually conceding the match and retiring while trailing in the third set, citing severe cramping.
Azarenka ended the year ranked world No. 7, with a 45–15 win–loss record, having won three titles and qualified for the year-end championships for the first time in her career.