Tennis update: A look at Victoria Azarenka as a pro tennis player
Anyone on the tennis circuit can easily guess that Victoria Azarenka may just be the next big thing in the sport. The 21-year-old professional tennis player from Belarus has been steadily gaining popularity and success from her performances at tournaments.
Azarenka’s prowess at this point includes four singles titles, one of which is the 2009 Sony Ericsson Open. She has been quite successful at mixed doubles as well, winning two Grand Slam titles. Her partners were Max Mirnyi at the 2007 US Open tournament
and Bob Bryan at the 2008 French Open tournament. She has also appeared in four Grand Slam quarter-finals.
The young Belarusian turned pro in the year 2003. Her first major successes were her victories at the Australian Open and US Open as a junior player in 2005. Consequently, she was titled the ITF Junior Girls World Champion, making her the first Belarusian
to do so. In 2006, she participated in her first Grand Slam, the US Open, where she made it to the third round before being upset by Anna Chakvetadze. In the following year she defeated top 20 player Nicole Vaidisova, and top 30 player Jelena Jankovic.
2007 was the first year in which Azarenka competed in all four Grand Slam tournaments. At the Australian Open, she was defeated by the then World Number 11 Jelena Jankovic. She was beaten by Italian Karin Knapp in the French Open, and by Nicole Vaidisova
at Wimbledon. She reached the US Open to defeat former World Number 1 Martina Hingis in the third round, but was beaten by Svetlana Kuznetsova in the next round.
This year, Azarenka competed in all four Majors once again. Seeded 7th at the Australian Open, she defeated Vera Zvonareva in the fourth round, making it her first victory over the Russian in five matches. However, she was defeated in the quarter-final
by Serena Williams, making it the third consecutive time she has lost to Williams at the Australian Open. At this year’s French Open, an injured Azarenka was defeated in the first round by Gisela Dulko in the first round. This lowered her rankings to World
Number 15. She participated as 14th seed at Wimbledon, falling to Petra Kvitova in the third round. The US Open was Azarenka’s last tournament so far this year. She defeated Monica Niculescu in the first round. However, during the second round against
Gisela Dulko, Azarenka lagged behind 5-1. Halfway through the game, she collapsed on court. She was rushed to the hospital and it was revealed that she had suffered a concussion while warming up before the match, causing her to withdraw from the rest of tournament.
Victoria Azarenka is one of the few pro tennis players who are met with athletic triumph at both singles tournaments and doubles competitions. Her highest career rank until now is World Number 6, which she reached in October of last year. These days, as
of August 2010, Azarenka’s ATP ranking is World Number 11.
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