Background
Victoria Fyodorovna Azarenka was born on July 31, 1989 in Minsk, Belarus (then the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union). She is a daughter of Fyodor and Alla Azarenka. Victoria has an elder brother Max.
Виктория Азаренко
Victoria Fyodorovna Azarenka was born on July 31, 1989 in Minsk, Belarus (then the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union). She is a daughter of Fyodor and Alla Azarenka. Victoria has an elder brother Max.
Victoria Azarenka was introduced to tennis early in her life since her mother served at the Republican Center for Olympic Tennis Training in Minsk. It was her mother who encouraged her daughter to pursue a career in tennis. Victoria took up a tennis racquet for the first time at seven. The first coach of Azarenka, Valentina Egorovna Rzhanykh, noted specific commitment, endurance and constant desire to lead in her ward.
After her next coach relocated to the United States, Victoria had an opportunity to hone her athletic skills under Nadezhda Drozdova, the then head coach of the national junior team. In November 2003, as a junior, Azarenka earned her first title, in doubles, in her debut on the International Tennis Federation Tour held in Israel, teaming with her countrywoman Olga Govortsova. She then lost to Anna Ivanovic at the Wimbledon semifinals.
A fifteen-year-old budding tennis player, Azarenka was granted a sponsorship that allowed her to study at the tennis academy in Spanish city of Marbella, under Klaus Hofsaess, the former coach of a German tennis star Steffi Graf. Victoria was placed 508 on WTA junior singles rankings following the 2004 season.
In 2005, Azarenka moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, the United States, with the help of her mother's friend, National Hockey League goalie Nikolai Khabibulin. She pursued training under a Portuguese tennis coach António van Grichen. That same year, Victoria earned two junior Grand Slams, at the Australian Open and US championship, and became the season's junior world No. 1, the first tennis player from Belarus to achieve the title.
Azarenka is a graduate of the Belarusian State University of Physical Culture.
The start of Victoria Azarenka's professional athletic career can be counted from 2006 when she switched from junior to senior level. At the Wimbledon Championships of that year, she was defeated by Agnieszka Radwańska of Poland. The US Open was marked with a win over a Russian tennis player Anastasia Myskina in the first round and a loss to another Russian, Anna Chakvetadze, two rounds later. Closer to the end of the season, Azarenka qualified for the final of an ITF event in Pittsburgh but was defeated by Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada.
The first Grand Slam success came in 2007 when Azarenka and her countryman, Max Mirnyi, won mixed doubles over Meghann Shaughnessy of the United States and Leander Paes of India at the US Open. The mixed doubles at the 2008 French Open was victorious as well, along with Bob Bryan this time. By March of the next year, Azarenka had scored in the top ten tennis players of the world and a year later became 3rd in the world ranking.
Later that year, Azarenka joined the national team at the Summer Olympics held in London. Defeated by a tennis star Serena Williams in the singles semifinals, Azarenka bounced back by winning the bronze-medal singles match over Maria Kirilenko in straight sets. It was the first Olympic medal in tennis in the history of Belarusian sport. Pairing with Maxim Mirnyi, Azarenka added the gold to the medal count of the national team by defeating Andy Murray and Laura Robson of Great Britain in a tiebreak in mixed doubles.
The numerous injuries suffered by Azarenka banned her from important victories throughout the next several years. Early in 2015, after another loss that occured in the Australian Open, she began training under Wim Fissette of Belgium. The change of coach paid off in April of the following year when Azarenka triumphed at the Miami Open Tournament and reentered the top 5 of the WTA rankings. She missed the 2016 season since July, including the Olympic Games held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to give birth to her son.
Azarenka resumed competing the next summer and won her first match after the hiatus over Risa Ozaki at the Mallorca Open. She was then defeated by Ana Konjuh of Croatia in the second round. Azarenka had to withdraw from a great number of tournaments from August to October 2017 because of the custody case for her son. However, the Belarusian athlete was given a wild card which allowed her to compete, including the US Open.
The long break was over in 2018 and her first tournament was the Indian Wells Masters. Qualifying for the semifinals of the Miami Open, Azarenka regained her place in the top 100. The Madrid, Italian and French Open ended by losses. Defeated by Karolína Plíšková of Croatia in the second round at Wimbledon, Victoria reached the event's final of the mixed doubles where Jamie Murray was her partner. After losing to Sloane Stephens in the third round of the US Open, Azarenka reached the quarterfinals of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.
The 2019 season wasn't marked by important achievements for Azarenka contrary to the next one. She missed the Australian Open and Indian Wells for undisclosed reasons, even before the latter was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the same as the WTA Tour was suspended. After the Tour was resumed, Azarenka took part in the Top Seed Open, Lexington, and was defeated by Venus Williams in the first round. She then won her first title in the Tour since 2016 at the Western & Southern Open. The victory raised her to the 27th place in the world rankings.
Azarenka reached the quarterfinal at the US Open. It was her first Grand Slam quarterfinal since the 2016 Australian Open. After winning over Elise Mertens, she qualified for the event's final, defeating Serena Williams in the semifinals. Though Azarenka lost, she jumped to No. 14 in the world ranking. Azarenka then excelled on a clay court winning Venus Williams at the Italian Open and Sofia Kenin at the Australian Open. In the quarterfinals of the latter, however, she lost to Garbiñe Muguruza of Spain. At the end of the season, Azarenka was defeated by her countrywoman, Arina Sabalenka, in the finals of the Ostrava Open.
Victoria Azarenka went down in the history of the sport as the first Belarusian tennis athlete, both male or female, who won the Grand Slam title for her country. An Olympic Champion in mixed doubles and a bronze winner in singles, Azarenka earned the Grand Slam titles twice as of 2020.
During her career, to date, Azarenka has won in total 29 WTA titles (21 for singles and 8 for doubles), has been the world No. 1, both on junior and senior levels, and has entered the top 10 singles ranking following the season for five straight years, from 2009 to 2013. She has reached the US Open finals three times and won three mixed doubles titles, two being Grand Slam titles (the US Open with compatriot Max Mirnyi and French Open with Bob Bryan), and the third being the Olympic gold medal in mixed doubles.
Azarenka was named Honored Master of Sports of Belarus in 2010, and two years later, following her triumphs at the London Olympics, was honored with the Order of the Fatherland (III class) and the Order of Honor.
When questioned about events in her home country, the Republic of Belarus, namely mass protests over the leadership of Alexander Lukashenko, that took place in 2020, she said: "I feel like there is a lot of things going on in the world, and obviously what's happening in Belarus is very dear to my heart." Azarenka had previously posted on Instagram, calling for "opposing parties to stop the violence and riots and move to peace talks."
Victoria Azarenka came back to competitions a few months after the birth of her son. Aspiring to spend as much time as possible with her baby, she began to bring him to the competitions with her and faced some domestic and organizational inconveniences in that way. Unsatisfied with the situation, Azarenka once stated that she would do her best to improve the rights of female tennis players with children in the WTA tournaments. In particular, she noted as a big disadvantage the absence of nurseries and children's rooms at the tournaments organized by the Women's Tennis Association.
Azarenka doesn't like rewatching her matches. Very attached to her son, she wants to be a kind of superhero for him by proving that every goal is achievable if you work hard. Victoria believes that art and music are the ways to express feelings and to show what you are worrying about.
Quotations:
"I feel like when the task is more difficult for me it's more exciting."
"Tennis court, the results, yes, it gives me a feeling of accomplishment and knowing that all the work I put in is working. It's a great feeling. But happiness is something way bigger than tennis."
"I love the game and I am so lucky to be able to do what I love."
"I just want to be able to show who I really am, what I can do, bring awareness, create something because I want to take tennis, women's tennis, into an even more exciting path because I believe we have a lot more things to offer."
"It's true that being in an individual sport, you have to be a little bit selfish."
"Sports is a huge entertainment now, and we need to provide that entertainment for the fans because that's what they're looking for."
"I was missing out on a lot of things that my friends were doing, but in another way, they were missing things I was doing. It was kind of a trade-off I had to make."
"There are so many steps you have to go through to reach a high level, so you're kind of building your own, I would say, mountain. You have to go piece by piece. When you're young and really ambitious, you want to jump right up. It kind of teaches you a lesson, I would say."
"I always take things step by step and match by match."
"You cannot be in pretend for people to like you."
"Things are never perfect, so I never get too high about things, or get too down about things anymore."
"I have learned how to better handle things as they come."
"I'm such a perfectionist. I want to do better and better."
"I had to battle the doubts and fears for a while, but I committed to making sure that my strongest emotion was self-belief. Once I did that, I knew I would be OK."
"I don't drink alcohol. I only really drink water."
"I'll never be like a Barbie girl, that's for sure."
Victoria Azarenka describes herself as a highly motivated perfectionist. Quite sensitive and kind-hearted in everyday life, she turns into a real fighter on the court and does her best to show what she is really capable of. She endeavors to grab any opportunity she is given and to maximize her potential. Victoria has once cited her grandmother as the person who inspired her the most. In childhood, she was called 'Mukha' (a fly) for her irrepressible activity.
Azarenka's favorite city is New York. She once confessed that she would be happy to try herself as an actress. She has a sweet tooth and takes pleasure in cooking though she does it rarely because of a busy schedule as an athlete.
Victoria Azarenka speaks Belarusian, Russian, and English fluently, and has a little command of Ukrainian and French as well.
Physical Characteristics: Victoria Azarenka is 1.83 meters tall. She is right-handed.
Quotes from others about the person
Sloane Stephens, American professional tennis player: "She's just a really tough competitor."
Victoria Azarenka was in a relationship with an American singer Redfoo from the end of 2012 to the beginning of 2014.
She then dated Billy McKeague with whom she had a son Leo Alexander. Victoria and Billy parted ways a year after Leo's birth, in 2017. Closer to the end of the year, the custody case for their child started in Los Angeles. The judicial proceedings lasted throughout 2017 and 2019.
Alla Valentinovna served as education coordinator at the Republican Center for Olympic Tennis Training, Minsk, Belarus.
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