With 21 career singles titles to her name so far, Victoria Azarenka is undoubtedly one of the better players to have ever graced a tennis court. The veteran Belarusian tennis player has won a couple of Grand Slam titles and an Olympics singles bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics. Sabalenka has reached at least the semi-final at every single Grand Slam. In the doubles category, the Belarusian has won nine career titles and reached a career-high ranking of seventh. Her highest career ranking as a singles player is first, which she achieved in January 2012, the same year she won the Olympic bronze medal and her first ever Grand Slam.
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Azarenka made her debut in junior tennis in 2003 on the ITF Junior Circuit. Her best year as a junior was undoubtedly 2005 which saw her win the Australian Open and the US Open in the girls’ singles category. She beat Agnes Szavay down under and Alexa Glatch in the States to win the Grand Slam titles. That year, she became the top ranked junior player and was also named the ITF World Champion, becoming the first ever Belarusian tennis player to do so. Azarenka also won four doubles Grand Slam titles as a junior, twice at Wimbledon and once each at the French Open and the Australian Open.
Azarenka has won 21 singles titles in her career so far but her most successful competition is the Miami Open which she won three times. Apart from that, she is a two-time champion of the Australian Open, Indian Wells Masters, Cincinnati Open and the Dubai/Qatar Open. Azarenka achieved the sunshine double (winning the Miami and Indian Wells competitions in the same season) in 2016. Her first WTA singles title win came in 2009 when she won the Miami Open where she beat then world no. 1 Serena Williams in straight sets. It made her the sixth female teenage champion of the competition in history, thus joining an illustrious club that included Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Venus Williams, and Gabriela Sabatini.
In the first four rounds of the 2012 Australian Open, Azarenka defeated Heather Watson, Casey Dellacqua, Mona Barthel, and Iveta Beneova without dropping a set. Azarenka faced a stiffer test in the quarterfinals against world No. 8, Agnieszka Radwaska, but prevailed in three sets. She then overcame defending champion and eleventh seed Kim Clijsters to reach her first Major singles final, where she faced world No. 4 Maria Sharapova. After a shaky start, Azarenka won the next nine games to claim the title. This victory was a big milestone in the Belarusian’s career as she became the top-ranked player in the world after that. That same year, she participated at the London Olympics for Belarus, clincing the bronze medal in singles and the gold in the mixed doubles category alongside Max Mirnyi.
In 2013, Azarenka successfully defended her Australian Open title, defeating Li Na in three sets in the final. Her path to the final included victories over Monica Niculescu in the first round, Eleni Daniilidou in the second round, Jamie Hampton in the third round, Elena Vesnina in the fourth round, Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals, and Sloane Stephens in the semifinals, where she took a controversial 10-minute medical timeout citing exaggerated injuries and blaming breathing difficulties and stress.
| Competition | Best result | Year |
| Australian Open | Winner | 2012, 2013 |
| French Open | Semi-final | 2013 |
| Wimbledon | Semi-final | 2011, 2012 |
| US Open | Final | 2012, 2013, 2020 |
Victoria Azarenka in a file photo (Image credits: Twitter) Victoria Azarenka in a file photo (Image credits: Twitter)
Victoria Azarenka in a file photo (Image credits: Twitter) Victoria Azarenka in a file photo (Image credits: Twitter)
