Belarusian tennis player Victoria Azarenka has reclaimed her position as the world’s top female tennis player after Serena Williams defeated Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in the final of Wimbledon at the All England Club, according to the latest rankings released by the WTA.
The 23 year old Pole needed to win her final match against the 5 time Wimbledon champion on Saturday, the 7th of July to claim the world number one spot for the first time in her career but after falling short in her final hurdle, she had to be content with moving up from third to second in the latest edition of the WTA Tour rankings.
Azarenka reclaims her position as the top female tennis player in the world just a month after being displaced from her position by Russian tennis beauty Maria Sharapova, who reclaimed the number one spot after her win at the French Open in Roland Garros. But having failed to reach even the quarter final stages of Wimbledon, a title she took over by storm as a 16 year old, Sharapova was knocked out in the fourth round. Read more »
Victoria Azarenka is already at a crossroads in her young career. There has been a batch of new Major winners, in recent years, and these players have the opportunity to capitalise and become multiple Slam winners, or fade away with a solitary big one on their CV.
Between 1991 and 2007, there were four single Slam champions. There are currently six such players on the WTA tour and, of this group, Azarenka is the player most likely to leave it.
Strong on all surfaces and with a rounded game that now contains finesse, as well as power, the Belarusian has all the attributes to become a major force in this transitional era. Read more »
Currently ranked as the No.1 tennis player in the world, Victoria Azarenka is a Belarusian Tennis player leading the way in the women’s game. At just 22-years-old, she has achieved great success and could potentially dominate for years to come. She certainly has time on her side and after bursting onto the scene in 2007 at the US Open, she is now back in form and the player to beat in 2012.
With a victory already achieved in at the Australian open this year, many are anticipating a strong Wimbledon campaign, to add to her already significant trophy cabinet. Last year’s Wimbledon was a strong campaign from the Belarusian champion who reached the semi-final before losing in straight sets to eventual champion Petra Kvitova, however Azarenka believes she is stronger than ever and ready to make amends for last year with her eyes fixed on Wimbledon glory,
Azarenka’s greatest risk to derailing her tournament success is an ongoing shoulder injury which has caused her a number of problems this year, but she is confident of steering clear of injury to help secure her first Wimbledon victory. Despite this she will have to deal with the strong Maria Sharapova who is on a good run of form and will be looking for revenge against Azarenka following her defeat in the Australian open earlier this year.
Equally Serena Williams has already defeated Azarenka in the Madrid open proving she will be ever present heading into a highly competitive ladies Wimbledon this year. With age on her side continued success and reaching the latter stages of big tournaments can only help build confidence for the future.
Victoria Azarenka is considered to be the Number 1 professional tennis player as of April 16,2012. Azarenka has crazy tennis skills and has come a very long way to reach this position. Not only did Azarenka win the 2012 Australia Open but also became the first Belarusian player to win a singles Grand Slam (having prviously won titles in doubels at the the 2007 US Open with Max Miryne and the 2008 French Open with Bob Bryan.)
Azarenka moved to Arizona where she was trained by the National Hockey League goalie Nikolai Khabibulin and his wife. She took a break for a while from tennis to focus on education; however after the death of the grandmother she focused back on sports.
Her year has started with a bang, with Azarenka winning the first title of the season at the 2012 Apia International Sydney. She won the first four matches with ease, defeating her first four opponents Heather Watson, Cassey, Mona Barthel, and Iveta Benesova.
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World number one women’s tennis player Victoria Azarenka has lost her first match in the calendar year of 2012, bringing an end to a 26 match unbeaten streak from the start of the year in the first three months when she was beaten in straight sets by Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli in the Quarter Final match of the Sony Ericsson Open. The 26 match unbeaten streak that Azarenka accumulated in the first three months is the best winning streak by any female player on Tour since former world number one Martina Hingis went 37 matches without defeat at the start of the 1997 season.
Azarenka looked visibly tired during the match and did very little to hold off a determined Bartoli who is hungry for an A-list title, not having won one since ages. Her baseline shots made Azarenka look like a child and she made many uncharacteristic mistakes that no one expected of the 2012 Australian Open champion. Victoria Azarenka had a very unreliable serve throughout the match and the atypical mistakes that she made from the baseline all conspired to bring about her downfall and ending her winning streak.
Speaking in the press conference after the match, a visibly disappointed Azarenka stated that this loss might just be the inspiration that she needed, adding that she’s just human and not a superwoman. But she also stated that she is extremely proud of what she has done over the last couple of months and hopes that the next times, she’ll go much longer than just 26 games without defeat.
Victoria Azarenka is now looking for the start of the clay court season where she is hoping to grab the French Open title, something that she has dreamt of since her early days in tennis and feels this is the right moment for it.
Belarusian tennis star Victoria Azarenka is back in the No 1 position – congratulations to her!! After her surprising defeat at the Qatar Open, she was very much upset with her form, with it being reported that she had even thought of quitting the sport altogether. This crisis of confidence was certainly a factor in her losing more matches.
In an interview she revealed that losing was not at all fun for her because she plays with a lot of passion and desire, and can’t stand it when she ends up on the losing side.
But, thanks to God according to Azarenka, she changed her mind and took a break. Suddenly in 2011, she shocked every tennis lover by winning 55 out of 72 matches, finishing the year as the world’s no 3. In 2012, she won the Australian open and snatched the top spot, and is currently on cloud 9 after beating Agneiszka Radwanska on Saturday and reaching the Qatar open final. She will face Sam Stosur in the final.
She is now considered as the best player on the WTA circuit and all the credit for this goes to her outstanding effort and incredible patience. Her improvement has won her great compliment from tennis legend Martina Navratilova. According to Martina she has talent and personality to be a great competitior for many years to come.
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July 19, 2012 7:33 am | 
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