subject: Azarenka: Is The World Number 11 Will Make It Into The World Number 1? [print this page] Victoria Azarenka was born on July 31, 1989 in Minsk, Belarus. She is a competitive tennis player who was known to be the Junior World Champion in 2005. She won the 2007 US Open Mixed Doubles Title together with her teammate Max Mirnyi, and also the 2008 French Open with Bob Bryan. She recently resides in Scottsdale, Arizona and undergone her training in Marbella, Spain. Last February 23, 2009, she achieved a career high of No. 11 in Singles.
In 2005, Azarenka won the Australian and US Open being a junior and was named the ITF Junior Girls World Title for that particular year. She was the pioneer athlete from Belarus to do that. She also won her very first ITF title in Petange, Luxembourg within the same year. In Guangzhou, China, she attained her ever first professional level Semifinals, beating three qualifying rounds and beating both Martina Such and Shuai Peng in the primary battle before losing to eventual champion Yan Zi.
Everyday Azarenka have been one of the first players to be out in the field to work out. Together with her trainer, Mark Wellington, they started gradually. Headphones on, she swings her arms forward and backward then gently tosses and kicks a soccer ball with him. The drills and the ball eventually speed up until both player and trainer are quick-stepping to keep it before them. Usually, you will see tennis players take small breaks during those workouts and share a laugh with their instructor. But not this lady. When the ball gets past her, she stamps her foot in frustration.
The 19-year-old Azarenka won her first WTA Tour Singles Title earlier this year by conquering the Brisbane International. The World No.14 Belorussian is now 13-1 this year. The only defeat to date was against Serena Williams in the Australian Open when she disappointingly had departed from the fourth-round match because of faintness and illness.
Azarenka posted a 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 6-3 Quarterfinals victory over Safina, who would have claimed the World's No.1 ranking from Serena Williams by reaching the final. But for Azarenka, she ran as an athlete filled with assurance right after capturing her first two career WTA Titles this year in Brisbane and Memphis. Safina appeared to achieve the match in her grasp when she took a 3-1 lead during the third set, but she couldn't hold on to the supremacy.
Shahar Pe'er's distinctive run in the singles draw at Indian Wells came to an sudden end, but at least she could relieve herself with moving forward to the semifinals of the doubles event hours later. Despite converting four of her five break points, Pe'er was on her back foot for the majority of the encounter, with Azarenka dominating the Israeli's service games, breaking six times.
