Injury is damage to a biological organism which can be classified on various bases.

Classification[link]

By cause[link]

• Traumatic injury, a body wound or shock produced by sudden physical injury, as from violence or accident^[1]
• Other injuries from external physical causes, such as radiation injury, burn injury or frostbite
• Injury from infection
• Injury from toxin or as adverse effect of a pharmaceutical drug
• Metabolic injury
  • Complications of diabetes due to hyperglycemia
  • Complications of lysosomal and glycogen storage diseases
• Injury due to autoimmunity
• Injury due to cancer
• Injury secondary to any other disease

By location[link]

• Wound, an injury in which skin is torn, cut or punctured (an open wound), or where blunt force trauma causes a contusion (a closed wound). In pathology, it specifically refers to a sharp injury which damages the dermis of the skin.
• Brain injury
• Spinal cord injury
• Nerve injury
• Soft tissue injury
• Cell damage, including direct DNA damage

By activity[link]

• Sports injury
• Occupational injury
• Accidental injury

References[link]

It has been suggested that Andrea Petkovic career statistics be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Proposed since January 2012.

Andrea Petkovic

Full name	Andrea Petkovic
Country	Germany
Residence	Griesheim, Germany
Born	(1987-09-09) 9 September 1987 (age 24) Tuzla, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Turned pro	2006
Retired	Active
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money	$2,496,528
Singles
Career record	272–157
Career titles	2 WTA, 8 ITF
Highest ranking	9 (10 October 2011)
Current ranking	15 (21 May 2012)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	QF (2011)
French Open	QF (2011)
Wimbledon	3R (2011)
US Open	QF (2011)
Doubles
Career record	53–50
Career titles	0 WTA, 3 ITF
Highest ranking	68 (28 September 2009)
Current ranking	105 (21 May 2012)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	1R (2010, 2011)
French Open	3R (2011)
Wimbledon	2R (2011)
US Open	2R (2009)
Last updated on: 21 May 2012.

Andrea Petkovic (Serbian: Андреа Петковић, Andrea Petković; born 9 September 1987) is a German professional tennis player from Griesheim, near Darmstadt in Germany.

Petkovic reached her career-high singles ranking of world no. 9 on 10 October 2011. She has won 2 WTA titles, 8 ITF singles titles and 3 ITF doubles titles. Petkovic became the German national champion in 2007 and 2009. She is coached by Petar Popović and her father Zoran.

Early and personal life[link]

Andrea Petkovic was born in Tuzla, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia.^[1] but at the age of six months, the family relocated to Germany. Petkovic first took to the tennis courts when she was six; her father Zoran Petkovic, former Yugoslav tennis player and member of the Yugoslavia Davis Cup team,^[2] was a coach at a club in Darmstadt at the time. He introduced her to the sport and later became her coach.^[3] She was able to finish high school before competing in tennis full-time because Zoran never influenced her into joining the professional circuit.^[4]

Apart from tennis, she likes to educate herself by reading; her favourite authors are Goethe and Wilde.^[3] Her mother Amira is a dental assistant while her younger sister Anja is a student.^[3] Petkovic graduated from high school in 2006 with an Abitur from the Georg-Büchner-Schule in Darmstadt, a Gymnasium. She has been studying Political science at the FernUniversität Hagen since 2008.^[5]

Petkovic also has a successful YouTube channel which is home to her video blog entitled "Petkorazzi". In the blog she makes fun of herself, gives fans chances to win prizes, and shows fans what life is like on the tour.^[6] She does the blog in both German and English.^[4]

Since the beginning of her professional career, she keeps a diary at irregular intervals about her life on the WTA-Tour in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, a major German newspaper.^[7] Petkovic obtained German citizenship in 2001. She speaks Serbian, German, English and French.^[3] Petkovic is of Serb ancestry and was born in present day Bosnia and Herzegovina (then part of SFR Yugoslavia), in a 2009 interview with the WTA she stated how her parents might move to Novi Sad, Serbia, where they have a second home.^[8] When asked how German she feels Petkovic replied that "Obviously I'm German, but I always say my soul is still Serbian. Germans are generally more cool, reserved. I'm very emotional, have lots of fire in my personality. In that sense still feel very close to my heritage. For all that, there is much to appreciate about Germany. I feel like I am part of the 'system' and feel very rooted there."^[8]

Career[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2012)

Early career – 2008[link]

Andrea Petkovic serving

Petkovic turned professional in 2006 after she finished school,^[3] but she had already won 4 ITF titles. She was the winner of the tournaments in Antalya, Podgorica (both in 2004), Davos and Alphen aan den Rijn (both in 2005).

In April 2007, she became a member of the German Fed Cup team. She played her first Grand Slam at the 2007 French Open, where she reached the second round after coming through the qualifying without losing a set and beating Jarmila Groth. There she lost 6–0, 2–6, 3–6 to later Wimbledon-finalist Marion Bartoli. After this, and having some success on the ITF-Circuit (she won the ITF title in Contrexéville in July 2007), she reached the Top 100 in the WTA-Ranking for the first time. Because of that, she was able to play in the 2007 US Open main draw without having to qualify. She once again reached the second round after beating Audra Cohen. In round two she lost to Lucie Šafářová 3–6, 3–6.

At the Australian Open in January 2008, in her first round match against Russia's Anna Chakvetadze, she suffered a cruciate ligament rupture in her right knee after only two minutes of play. This prevented her from playing any tournament for almost eight months, which caused her ranking drop down to a lowest level of 465.^[3][5] After the injury, she started playing mostly on the ITF-Circuit again where she won a tournament in Istanbul in November 2008. She finished the year with a ranking of 315.

2009[link]

In 2009, Petkovic played her first tournament at the Australian Open due to a protected ranking. She beat fellow German Kathrin Wörle to reach the second round but then lost to Alizé Cornet. She mostly kept on playing ITF tournaments until June with a lot of success. For example, she won the $100,000 GDF Suez Open Romania from Bucharest, where she defeated Jelena Dokić in the semifinals, regaining a ranking in the top 100.

In July 2009, Andrea Petkovic won her first WTA tournament in Bad Gastein losing only one set.^[3] In the final, she beat Ioana-Raluca Olaru 6–2, 6–3. On her way to the title, she defeated, amongst others, Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Iveta Benešová. She also played the doubles final in Bad Gastein partnering Tatjana Malek. The following week, Petkovic reached the semifinal in Istanbul, losing to Lucie Hradecká in 3 tight sets. After those two weeks, she achieved her hitherto career high singles ranking of 52.

For the rest of the year she struggled to repeat her success but had another good tournament at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo where she came through the qualifying and reached the round of last 16. In second round she had her first top 10 win by beating Svetlana Kuznetsova 7–5 4–6 6–3. Afterwards she lost to Agnieszka Radwańska in three sets.

2010[link]

She played her first tournament in 2010 in Brisbane, Australia, where she reached the semifinal with wins over Iveta Benešová, Vania King and Daniela Hantuchová. She only lost to the later tournament champion Kim Clijsters 4–6, 2–6. After that tournament she reached the top 50 of the WTA-Ranking for the first time.

At the Open GDF Suez in Paris, Petkovic reached the quarterfinals after defeating Katarina Srebotnik and No. 5 seed Aravane Rezaï, but lost to Elena Dementieva 6–3, 4–6, 2–6.

At the 2010 French Open she defeated Elena Vesnina of Russia 4–6, 6–1, 6–4 in the first round. She was beaten 4–6, 7–5, 6–4 by defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round after missing four match points on her own serve at 6–4, 5–4.

Petkovic was seeded 7th at the 2010 UNICEF Open and advanced to the final with wins over Petra Kvitová, Ana Ivanović, Sandra Záhlavová, and Kirsten Flipkens. She lost to Justine Henin in the final 6–3, 3–6, 4–6.

Petkovic's best singles performance in a Grand Slam event came at the 2010 US Open. Her first two matches were three-set upset victories over Nadia Petrova 6–2, 4–6, 7–6 and Bethanie Mattek-Sands 3–6, 6–3, 7–5. She performed an on-court dance following both triumphs. After she received a third-round walkover due to an injury to Peng Shuai, Petkovic lost her first career Arthur Ashe Stadium appearance to eventual tournament finalist Vera Zvonareva 6–1, 6–2.^[4]

2011[link]

Andrea Petkovic, return position

Returning to the Brisbane International, Petkovic improved on her previous-best semifinal appearance by reaching the final, with straight set wins over 8th seeded Alexandra Dulgheru, Jelena Dokić, Jarmila Groth, and 4th seeded Marion Bartoli. In the final she lost to Wimbledon semifinalist Petra Kvitová 1–6, 3–6.

Petkovic was the 30th seed at the 2011 Australian Open. She advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating Jill Craybas, Anne Keothavong, injured No. 3 seed Venus Williams, who retired after one game, and No. 14 seed Maria Sharapova. She was defeated 2–6, 4–6 by finalist Li Na of China in the quarterfinals, her best achievement in a Grand Slam to-date.

Petkovic then played Fed Cup for Germany and helped them to a win over Slovenia with two wins in singles rubbers.^[9] Next, Petkovic reached the quarterfinals of the 2011 Open GDF Suez, where she lost to Bethanie Mattek-Sands in a tight three-set match 6–7, 6–2, 3–6.

Her next tournament was Dubai, where she defeated fellow German Angelique Kerber in straight sets for the second straight week, but lost to Kaia Kanepi in three sets in the second round.

Petkovic defeated World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki 7–5, 3–6, 6–3 in the 4th round at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. Next, Petkovic faced Jelena Janković and defeated her 2–6, 6–2, 6–3. Her defeat of Wozniacki, the current number one, is the biggest win of her career. In the semifinals she lost to Maria Sharapova 3–6, 6–0, 6–2.

At the 2011 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Petkovic upset No. 7 seed Jelena Janković in three sets to set up a clash with World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki. Petkovic would go on to lose to Wozniacki 6–4, 6–1.

Petkovic won her second WTA Tour title in Strasbourg, defeating Anna-Lena Grönefeld, Zhang Shuai, Maria Kirilenko and Daniela Hantuchová. In the final she faced home favorite and No. 1 seed Marion Bartoli and won the title after Bartoli retired early in the second set. After that performance, Petkovic reached her new career-high ranking of No. 12 as of 23 May 2011.

As the 15th seed, Petkovic reached the quarterfinals of the 2011 French Open. She beat Bojana Jovanovski, Lucie Hradecká, 24th seed Jarmila Gajdosova, and 25th seed Maria Kirilenko to reach the last eight, where she lost to 7th seed Maria Sharapova.

One month later, Petkovic lost in the 3rd round at 2011 Wimbledon against a young Russian player, Ksenia Pervak.

In August, she became the sixth German player in history to crack the Top 10 by winning her opening match 6–3, 6–4 at the Mercury Insurance Open in San Diego against American player Alexa Glatch. At the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Canada she made it to the quarter finals where she lost to Agnieska Radwanska 6–4, 6–3. At Cincinnati, Petkovic made the semi-finals in spite of injury, before losing to Jelena Jankovic in straight sets.

At the US Open, Petkovic was seeded tenth. She beat Ekaterina Bychkova and Zheng Jie to progress to the third round, where she beat the eighteenth seed Roberta Vinci 6–4, 6–0 to set up a fourth round match with Carla Suarez Navarro, equaling her career best performance at the event up to that point. She went on to win the match against Navarro to secure her first ever Quarterfinals spot at the US Open against the World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki. She performed her trademark dance to delight the audience after her 4th round win. On September 8, she lost to Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets 6–1, 7–6.

Seeded ninth at the China Open Petkovic defeated Lucie Safarova and Carla Suarez Navarro to reach the third round where she emerged victorious over Marion Bartoli in three sets. In the quarterfinals she defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and proceeded to the semifinals where she won against Monica Niculescu. In the final, she faced Agnieszka Radwańska and lost in a tight three-setter 5–7 6–0 4–6. She was seeded second at the Ladies Linz but withdrew before the tournament began, citing a right knee injury.

Career statistics[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Andrea Petkovic

• Andrea Petkovic at the Women's Tennis Association
• Andrea Petkovic at the International Tennis Federation
• Andrea Petkovic at the Fed Cup
• Interview with Andrea Petkovic on the WTA website
• tennis-diary written by Andrea Petkovic in FAZ, a German newspaper (German)
• Official Website of Andrea Petkovic (German) (English)

v t e Women's Tennis Association: Top German female singles tennis players as of 28 May 2012 1. Angelique Kerber (10 ) 2. Sabine Lisicki (13 1) 3. Andrea Petkovic (15 ) 4. Julia Görges (27 ) 5. Mona Barthel (32 ) 6. Tatjana Malek (164 1) 7. Annika Beck (165 1) 8. Sarah Gronert (166 1) 9. Kristina Barrois (196 3) 10. Dinah Pfizenmaier (198 4)

v t e Women's Tennis Association: Top German female doubles tennis players as of 28 May 2012 1. Julia Görges (32 ) 2. Anna-Lena Grönefeld (34 ) 3. Sabine Lisicki (53 4) 4. Kristina Barrois (66 ) 5. Jasmin Wöhr (68 ) 6. Andrea Petkovic (109 4) 7. Tatjana Malek (120 5) 8. Angelique Kerber (173 4) 9. Kathrin Wörle (191 2) 10. Karolina Nowak (332 3)

Victoria Azarenka
Вікторыя Азаранка
Виктория Азаренко

Victoria Azarenka at the 2012 Qatar Total Open
Country	Belarus
Residence	Monte Carlo, Monaco
Born	(1989-07-31) 31 July 1989 (age 22) Minsk, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union now Belarus
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	66 kg (150 lb; 10.4 st)
Turned pro	2003
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money	$ 13,458,503
Singles
Career record	314–125
Career titles	12 WTA, 1 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 1 (30 January 2012)
Current ranking	No. 1 (28 May 2012)[1]
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	W (2012)
French Open	QF (2009, 2011)
Wimbledon	SF (2011)
US Open	4R (2007)
Other tournaments
Championships	F (2011)
Doubles
Career record	135–51
Career titles	6 WTA, 3 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 1 (7 July 2008)
Current ranking	No. 38 (28 May 2012)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	F (2008, 2011)
French Open	F (2009)
Wimbledon	QF (2008)
US Open	2R (2009)
Mixed Doubles
Career titles	2
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open	F (2007)
French Open	W (2008)
Wimbledon	1R (2007)
US Open	W (2007)
Last updated on: 28 May 2012.

Victoria Azarenka (Belarusian: Вікторыя Фёдараўна Азаранка, Russian: Виктория Фёдоровна Азаренко; born 31 July 1989) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She is the current World No. 1 as of 28 May 2012.^[1]

She won the 2012 Australian Open singles title, becoming the first Belarusian player to win a Grand Slam in singles. Her other achievements include winning two mixed doubles Grand Slam titles, the 2007 US Open with Max Mirnyi and the 2008 French Open with Bob Bryan.

Personal life[link]

At age 16, Azarenka moved to Scottsdale, Arizona from Minsk, Belarus, to train. In this she was aided by National Hockey League goalie Nikolai Khabibulin and his wife, who is a friend of Azarenka's mother.^[2] In 2010 she briefly considered a break from the sport of tennis to focus on education, however, after a conversation with her grandmother she decided to continue playing. It is the inspiration from her grandmother that is regarded as the key for her continued developments in the sport.^[3] Azarenka is romantically involved with tennis player Sergei Bubka Jr, son of former Olympic gold medalist and World Champion, Sergey Bubka. ^[4]

Tennis career[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2012)

Early career[link]

Azarenka debuted on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior tour in November 2003 in Israel, winning one doubles title with countrywoman Olga Govortsova.^[5] She continued to participate in ITF tournaments in 2004, and at the end of the season she had a rank of 508 on WTA singles tour.^[6] Azarenka had a successful year in 2005, winning two junior Grand Slams: the Australian^[7] and US^[8] championships. She ended the season as the junior world no. 1 and was named the 2005 World Champion by the ITF, becoming the first Belarusian to do so.^[9][10] In addition, she reached her first semifinal on the main tour in Guangzhou, China. She went from the qualifying draw of the tournament to the main draw, where she defeated Martina Suchá and Shuai Peng, before losing to the eventual champion Yan Zi.

2006[link]

In 2006 in Memphis, Azarenka defeated her first top-20 player, Nicole Vaidišová, and two months later defeated her second top-30 player in Jelena Janković at Miami. On clay, Azarenka pushed 2004 French Open champion Anastasia Myskina to 7–6 in the third in Rome, and took clay-court specialist Anabel Medina Garrigues to 9–7 in the third set in the first round at Roland Garros. At the 2006 Wimbledon Championships Azarenka lost in 1st round to 2005 Junior Wimbledon and 2006 Junior French Open Champion and Wildcard Agnieszka Radwanska 5:7 4:6. 2006 US Open, she had her first win over Myskina in the first round, and lost to Anna Chakvetadze in the third round, her best result in a Grand Slam event to that date. In her next tournament, Azarenka reached her second pro-level semifinal in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, losing to Tiantian Sun. She finished the year reaching the final of an ITF event in Pittsburgh, losing to Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak.^[11]

2007[link]

Ranked world no. 96, Azarenka began the year by playing two tournaments in Australia. She lost in the second round at the Moorilla Hobart International to Serena Williams. At the Australian Open, Azarenka reached the third round of a Grand Slam singles tournament for the second consecutive time, where she lost to world no. 11 Jelena Janković in straight sets.

She was upset in the first round of the French Open by Karin Knapp of Italy, and at Wimbledon, she lost in the third round to 14th-seeded Nicole Vaidišová.

At the US Open, Azarenka upset former world no. 1 Martina Hingis in the third round, before 2004 US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova beat her in the fourth round. In mixed doubles, Azarenka and countryman Max Mirnyi won the title, defeating Meghann Shaughnessy and Leander Paes.^[12]

She ended her year at the Tier I Kremlin Cup in Moscow, where she upset world no. 4 Maria Sharapova in the second round.^[13] She then lost to the eventual winner of the tournament, world no. 14 Elena Dementieva, in the quarterfinal. At the same tournament, Azarenka and her doubles partner Tatiana Poutchek, also of Belarus, lost in the final to the world no. 3 team of Liezel Huber and Cara Black in three sets. Azarenka's results at the Kemlin Cup elevated her rankings to career highs of world no. 27 in singles and world no. 29 in doubles.

2008[link]

Azarenka began the year at the Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts tournament in Gold Coast, Australia. Unseeded, she reached the semifinals, where she beat fifth-seeded Shahar Pe'er of Israel, Azarenka's sixth top-20 victory. In her third career WTA tour final, she lost to Li Na, but the points she earned in this tournament were enough to improve her ranking to a career-best world no. 25.

Azarenka was seeded 26th at the Australian Open. This was her first appearance as a seeded player in a Grand Slam singles tournament. She showed no ill effects from a leg injury while winning her first two matches, but lost in the third round to seventh-seeded and defending champion Serena Williams. In doubles, Azarenka and her partner Pe'er were seeded 12th. They made it to the finals, before losing to the unseeded team of Kateryna and Alona Bondarenko.

She was seeded 16th at the French Open. She defeated 18th-seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy in the third round, before losing to fourth-seeded Kuznetsova in the fourth round. Azarenka teamed with American Bob Bryan to win the mixed doubles title at the French Open, defeating the top seeded team of Katarina Srebotnik and Nenad Zimonjić in the final.

Azarenka at Wimbledon 2008

At Wimbledon, Azarenka was seeded 16th in singles and 6th in doubles (with Pe'er). In singles, Azarenka was defeated by 21st-seeded Nadia Petrova of Russia in the third round. In doubles, Azarenka and Pe'er reached the quarterfinals, where they lost to the top-seeded team of Cara Black and Liezel Huber.

Azarenka was seeded 14th at the US Open, but was defeated by 21st-seeded Caroline Wozniacki in the third round.

2009[link]

Azarenka began the year at the Brisbane International as the second seed. She defeated Kateryna Bondarenko, Jarmila Groth, Lucie Šafářová, and Sara Errani, all in straight sets to reach her fifth career final. In the final, Azarenka defeated third seed Marion Bartoli, 6–3, 6–1, to win her first WTA career title.

Azarenka was seeded 13th at the Australian Open. She advanced to the fourth round for the first time, winning the first set against world no. 2 Serena Williams, before she was forced to retire because of heat stress, with the score 6–3, 2–4.

At the Cellular South Cup in Memphis, Tennessee, Azarenka was seeded second. She won her second WTA title by beating her doubles partner and top seeded Caroline Wozniacki in the final. Afterwards, Wozniacki and Azarenka won the doubles title, beating Michaëlla Krajicek and Yuliana Fedak in the final.

Azarenka competing at the 2009 French Open

At the BNP Paribas Open, Azarenka was seeded 8th and reached the semifinals, where she lost to her doubles partner and eventual champion Vera Zvonareva, 3–6, 3–6. Because of her performance at this tournament, Azarenka improved her singles ranking to a career-best world no. 10.^[14] She is the second woman from Belarus ever to be ranked that high, following Natasha Zvereva who was ranked world no. 5 in the late 1980s.^[14]

At the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, Azarenka was seeded 11th. She defeated world no. 1 and defending champion Serena Williams in the final, 6–3, 6–1. This was Azarenka's first Tier I or Premier Mandatory event title. Azarenka also became the sixth teenage female singles champion in the history of this tournament, with the others being Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Venus Williams, and Gabriela Sabatini.^[15] By winning this tournament, Azarenka's ranking increased to a new career high of world no. 8.

Her next tournament was on clay at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, where she lost to Gisela Dulko in the second round. At the Italian Open, Azarenka lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinals.

At Roland Garros, Azarenka was seeded ninth and advanced to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, where she fell to top seed Dinara Safina, 6–1, 4–6, 2–6. With her partner Elena Vesnina, Azarenka made the final of the ladies doubles at Roland Garros. In the final, they played the Spanish pairing of Garrigues and Ruano Pascual, and the higher-ranked Spanish pair won, 6–1, 6–1.

She withdrew from her first match at the AEGON International, the warm-up for Wimbledon, citing a hip injury.

Azarenka was seeded 8th at Wimbledon. She fell, 2–6, 3–6, to second seed and eventual winner Serena Williams in the quarterfinals.^[16]

Receiving a bye in the first round at the Los Angeles, Azarenka fell to Maria Sharapova, 7–6, 4–6, 2–6. In Cincinnati, Azarenka lost to Jelena Janković in the third round 5–7, 6–7, committing 11 double faults. At the Rogers Cup in Toronto, she was seeded ninth. She lost to returning Kim Clijsters in the second round, 5–7, 6–4, 1–6.

At the US Open, Azarenka was seeded eighth. She fell to Francesca Schiavone in the third round, 6–4, 2–6, 2–6.

Seeded eighth at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, she lost to Li Na in the quarterfinals, 6–7, 6–4, 6–7, giving up a 5–1 lead in the first set. In her next tournament the China Open, Azarenka was seeded ninth. She lost in the second round to recent Tokyo champion Maria Sharapova, 3–6, 7–6, 5–7, leading 5–2 in the final set and serving for the match twice. She intended to play the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, but she withdrew.

At the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Azarenka vanquished Jelena Janković in her first-round robin-match, 6–2, 6–3.^[17] In her second match, however, Azarenka was defeated by Caroline Wozniacki, 6–1, 4–6, 5–7. Azarenka failed to convert a match point in the final set in which she led by a break on four occasions, and also served for the match at 5–3. Azarenka also conceded her serve at 5–5, to leave Wozniacki serving for the match after receiving a point penalty for racket abuse.^[18] Due to her loss to Wozniacki, Azarenka had to defeat second alternate Agnieszka Radwańska to qualify for the semifinals. She led 6–4, 5–2 with a double break, before going on to lose nine of the next ten games, eventually conceding the match after severe cramping in the third set forced her to retire while trailing 6–4, 5–7, 1–4.^[19]

Azarenka ended the year ranked world no. 7, with a 45–15 win-loss record, having won three titles and qualified for the year-end championships for the first time in her career. On 15 December, Azarenka split with long-time coach Antonio Van Grichen.

2010[link]

Azarenka began the season at the Hong Kong Tennis Classic exhibition. She was part of Team Europe, along with Caroline Wozniacki and Stefan Edberg. In her first match, she defeated Gisela Dulko, 6–1. The match was played best of one set due to rain. She withdrew from her remaining matches due to illness. She was seeded sixth at the Medibank International. She won her first three matches, all 7–5 in the third set. In the semifinals, she fell to fifth seed Elena Dementieva, 3–6, 1–6.

At the Australian Open, she was seeded seventh. She lost to Serena Williams in the quarterfinal, 6–4, 6–7, 2–6, giving up a 4–0 lead in the second set. This was the third consecutive year she has lost to Williams at this tournament. Seeded fourth at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, on her way to the final, she defeated Vera Zvonareva in the quarterfinals and Agnieszka Radwańska in the semifinals. In the final, she lost to defending champion Venus Williams, 3–6, 5–7.

Azarenka practicing at the 2010 Bank of the West Classic

At the 2010 BNP Paribas Open, she was seeded third, but was upset in the third round by María José Martínez Sánchez, 6–7, 2–6.

At the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open, where she was the defending champion and fourth seed, she lost in fourth round to 14th seed and eventual champion Kim Clijsters. This was the fourth match in the five tournaments this year that Azarenka lost to eventual champions.

At the Andalucia Tennis Experience, she was the top seed. She had to retire in her quarterfinal match against María José Martínez Sánchez, leading 4–0 due to a left thigh injury.

Seeded third at the Family Circle Cup, she had to retire from her first match while leading, 6–2, 2–2, against qualifier Christina McHale. At the 2010 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, she was upset in the second round by qualifier Anna Lapushchenkova, who was ranked no. 138 at the time.

At the 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, as the ninth seed, Azarenka lost to Ana Ivanović, 4–6, 4–6. As the tenth seed at the 2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, Azarenka retired from her first round match against Shuai Peng, while trailing 0–3 with a groin injury.

At the 2010 French Open, coming back from injury, Azarenka was upset in the first round by unseeded Gisela Dulko, 1–6, 2–6. This loss caused Azarenka to fall to world no. 15. Azarenka was unseeded at the 2010 AEGON International. Struggling with injuries, Azarenka fell to qualifier Ekaterina Makarova in the final.

Azarenka was seeded 14th at the Wimbledon. She lost to Petra Kvitová in the third round. Having served for the first set at 5–4, Azarenka lost nine consecutive games losing, 5–7, 0–6.

Azarenka playing for Belarus in the 2011 Fed Cup

To begin the summer hard-court season, Azarenka competed in the 2010 Bank of the West Classic as a wildcard and eight seed. Azarenka defeated Maria Sharapova in the final, 6–4 6–1. The win propelled Azarenka to world no. 12. Despite being the favourite to win the Mercury Insurance Open, Azarenka withdrew to recover from a right shoulder injury. Seeded ninth at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open, Azarenka lost to Ana Ivanović, 2–6, 6–7, 2–6, despite serving for the match twice in the second set. However, she won the doubles title, partnering with Maria Kirilenko, defeating Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs 7–6, 7–6.

At the US Open, during the second round against Gisela Dulko and whilst trailing 5–1, Azarenka collapsed on the court. There were concerns that the cause of the fall was heat-related. Azarenka was taken to a local hospital for treatment and was diagnosed with a concussion after hitting her head whilst warming up before the match during a sprint exercise.^[20]

At the Toray Pan Pacific Open, she lost to Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals 2–6, 7–6, 4–6. At the China Open, Azarenka retired in her secound-round match, having received a bye, to Timea Bacsinszky while leading, 6–4, 2–3.

At the 2010 Kremlin Cup Azarenka, as the second seed, defeated Maria Kirilenko in the final, 6–3 6–4, coming back from 4–0 down in the second set to win her fifth career title.

Azarenka's performance in Moscow qualified her for the year-end 2010 WTA Tour Championships, where she was in the White Group as the eighth seed. In her first round-robin match, Azarenka lost to Vera Zvonareva, 6–7, 4–6, despite serving for the first set at 5–4 and leading 3–1 in the second. She also lost to Kim Clijsters in her second match, 4–6, 7–5, 1–6, which assured that she did not qualify for the semifinals. Then, in her final match of the tournament and season, she defeated Janković for the second year in a row, 6–4, 6–1. Azarenka ended the year as world no. 10, her second consecutive year-end top-10 finish.

Azarenka then took part in a charitable exhibition match in mid-November with Caroline Wozniacki, beating the Dane, 6–3 6–3, at the Sports Palace in Minsk.

2011[link]

Azarenka began her year at the Medibank International as the seventh seed, where she lost to Kim Clijsters in the quarterfinals 3–6, 2–6. At the 2011 Australian Open Azarenka was seeded eighth. She lost to the ninth seed and eventual finalist, Li Na 3–6, 3–6, in the fourth round. Azarenka partnered with Maria Kirilenko in the women's doubles event, but the pair lost to Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta in the final.

Azarenka then travelled to Israel to compete in Fed Cup. Belarus beat Croatia, Austria, and Greece in the group stage, without losing a match. The Belarusian team then defeated Poland 2–0 to qualify for the World Group II play-Offs in April where they played Estonia.

Azarenka's next tournament was the 2011 Dubai Tennis Championships, where she was seeded 7th. She lost to Flavia Pennetta in the third round. Azarenka then competed at the 2011 Qatar Ladies Open as the sixth seed, but lost to Daniela Hantuchová in the first round in three sets 6–4, 1–6, 2–6.

Azarenka's next event was the 2011 BNP Paribas Open, where she competed as the eighth seed. She retired in the quarterfinals against world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, whilst trailing 0–3, due to a left leg injury. She also became the second person to defeat both Radwańska sisters in the same tournament.

Azarenka then competed at the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open as the eighth seed. She reached her second final at the event, where she defeated sixteenth seed Maria Sharapova 6–1, 6–4 to win the title.

At the 2011 Andalucia Tennis Experience, Azarenka was the top seed and dropped only fourteen games on her way to the final. She defeated Irina-Camelia Begu 6–3, 6–2, in the final. Azarenka's victory, and Samantha Stosur's inability to defend her points at Charleston, ensured that Azarenka would reach a career high of world no. 5. She then participated in Belarus' 5–0 win over Estonia in the Fed Cup, registering a 6–2, 6–0 win in her singles rubber. In her next tournament the 2011 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Azarenka retired after the first set of her first match, having won the first set 6–4 against Julia Goerges, ending her 12-match winning streak. Ironically, Julia went on to win the tournament.

At the 2011 Madrid Masters, Azarenka was seeded fourth. She lost in the final in straight sets to Petra Kvitová, but still rose to a career-high world no. 4. Azarenka then reached the quarterfinals of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, where she was up a set before retiring to eventual champion Maria Sharapova.

Azarenka was the fourth seed at the 2011 French Open. She beat Andrea Hlaváčková in the first round, Pauline Parmentier in the second round, 30th seed Roberta Vinci in the third round, and Ekaterina Makarova in the fourth round to reach her fourth career Grand Slam quarterfinal. She lost to Li Na in the quarterfinals.

Azarenka at the 2011 WTA Tour Championships

Azarenka was the fourth seed at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships. She beat 25th seed Daniela Hantuchová in a three-set third-round match, before beating Nadia Petrova. She followed that up with an easy victory over Tamira Paszek, advancing to the semifinals of a Grand Slam for the first time. Azarenka was beaten by Czech player and eventual champion Petra Kvitová, going down in three sets 1–6, 6–3, 2–6.

Her next tournament was the 2011 Bank of the West Classic, where she was the defending champion and top seed. Azarenka was ousted by 124th-ranked Marina Erakovic from New Zealand in the second round. Despite her 'horrible match' in singles, Azarenka claimed the doubles title with partner Kirilenko.

The next tournament Azarenka played was the 2011 Rogers Cup, where she was seeded fourth. After a bye, Azarenka crushed Stephanie Dubois, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, and Galina Voskoboeva, before being stopped by Serena Williams in the semifinals, 3–6, 3–6. Azarenka reached the doubles final with Kirilenko, but the team was forced to withdraw because of a hand injury to Azarenka. Azarenka pulled out of the 2011 Western & Southern Open with the same injury.

Azarenka's next tournament was the 2011 US Open, where she was seeded fourth. She made it to the third round, where she was defeated by Serena Williams 1–6, 6–7.^[21] Despite the early loss, she reached a new career high of no. 3 in the world.

Azarenka reached the semifinals of the 2011 Toray Pan Pacific Open, losing to eventual champion Agnieszka Radwańska. In doing so she qualified for the year-end championships in Istanbul.

The Belarusian participated in the China Open, the last of the four mandatory events for 2011, as the second seed. She defeated Polona Hercog in the second round, after receiving a first-round bye. She then withdrew from the tournament citing a right foot strain.

Azarenka would win her third title of the year at the 2011 BGL Luxembourg Open, defeating Monica Niculescu in the final.^[22]

Azarenka was placed in the White Group at the 2011 WTA Tour Championships. She beat Samantha Stosur 6–2, 6–2 and Li Na 6–2, 6–2 in her first two Round Robin matches. She secured the move to the semifinals despite her loss in three sets, 7–5, 4–6, 4–6, to Marion Bartoli, a substitute for Maria Sharapova. She then beat Vera Zvonareva 6–2, 6–3 to move to the final where she lost to Petra Kvitova 5–7, 6–4, 3–6.^[23]

2012[link]

Azarenka claimed her first title of the season at the 2012 Apia International Sydney as the third seed. She defeated her first three opponents, Stefanie Voegele, Jelena Jankovic and Marion Bartoli all in straight sets to advance to the semifinals where she defeated the seventh seed, Agnieszka Radwańska in three sets 1–6, 6–3, 6–2 to reach the final, where she defeated the defending champion Li Na in three sets 6–2, 1–6, 6–3.^[24]

Azarenka after winning the 2012 Qatar Total Open title

Azarenka competed at the 2012 Australian Open as the third seed, defeating Heather Watson, Casey Dellacqua, Mona Barthel and Iveta Benesova in the first four rounds without dropping a set, losing just 10 games and winning 48. In the quarterfinals, Azarenka faced a sterner test against world no. 8 Agnieszka Radwańska, and lost the opening set on a tie-break before coming back strongly, losing just two further games en route to a 6–7, 6–0, 6–2 win.^[25] In the semi-finals, she defeated the eleventh seed and defending champion Kim Clijsters 6–4, 1–6, 6–3^[26] to reach her first Grand Slam singles final where she faced the world no. 4 Maria Sharapova, conqueror of 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitová in the other semifinal. In a nervous start to the final, Azarenka lost the opening two games of the match, and was within two points of trailing 0–3 after Sharapova took the first two points of the third game. Azarenka came back to hold serve, however, and took the next two games to establish a 3–2 lead, before her opponent held serve to level the score at 3–3. This would prove to be Sharapova's last service hold in the match, as Azarenka then proceeded to win all of the next nine games, to record an emphatic 6–3, 6–0 victory.^[27] Unusually, due to the earlier quarter-final defeat of Caroline Wozniacki by Clijsters in the same tournament, whichever of the finalists triumphed in Melbourne would gain sufficient points to replace Wozniacki at the top of the Women's rankings. Azarenka thus recorded her first Grand Slam singles title and became the world no. 1 (with effect from 30 January 2012) in the same match.

Her first tournament as world number one was the 2012 Qatar Total Open. After receiving a bye in the first round, she played German Mona Barthel, dropping just one game in a comprehensive 6–1 6–0 victory. She won her third title of the year in Doha, defeating Barthel, Simona Halep, Yanina Wickmayer, Agnieszka Radwanska and Samantha Stosur all in straight sets. Azarenka planned to compete at the 2012 Dubai Tennis Championships. However, after a bye in the first round, she withdrew from the tournament due to an ankle injury.

In March, she played in the 2012 BNP Paribas Open, where she was the top seed. After receiving a bye in the first round, she defeated Mona Barthel in a tough three set match. In the next four rounds, she defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova, Julia Gorges, Agnieszka Radwanska and Angelique Kerber easily in straight sets, dropping just 16 games. In a re-run of the 2012 Australian Open decider, her opponent in the final was World No. 2 Maria Sharapova, and once again, Azarenka won in straight sets, this time by 6–2 6–3, thus extending her undefeated record in 2012 to 23–0. Azarenka´s next tournament was the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open, where after a bye in the first round, she went to defeat Michaella Krajicek 6–3 7–5 in the second round, Heather Watson 6–0 6–2 on the third round, next round she faced a harder test against Dominika Cibulkova, losing the first set and being 4–0 down on the second set, Azarenka managed to came back and pull out the match, with a final score of 1–6, 7–6(7), 7–5. In the next round she faced Marion Bartoli, who ended Azarenka's 26 match winning streak to start the 2012 season (3–6, 3–6).

In April, she competed at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. She received a bye into the second round against Andrea Petkovic, however Petkovic was forced to retire in the second set after suffering an ankle injury during the match, ending it 6–4, 4–4 to Azarenka. Azarenka then faced a tough match from Mona Barthel in the quarter finals but winning in 3 sets 6–4, 6–7, 7–5. She then faced Agnieszka Radwanska in the semi finals and winning comfortably in straight sets 6–1, 6–3. This win meant she had beaten Radwanska in all 5 matches against her this year. Azarenka would then face World No. 2 Maria Sharapova in the final, creating another top 2 seeded final. Sharapova was able to beat Azarenka comfortably in the final in straight sets 6–1, 6–4.

Azarenka then competed at the 2012 Mutua Madrid Open. After the first 2 rounds, she faced Ana Ivanovic and won the match 6–4, 6–4. She then faced a tricky challenge from World No. 8 Li Na in the quarter finals but eventually winning in 3 sets 3–6, 6–3, 6–3. In the semi finals she faced yet again Agnieszka Radwanska and was able to win comfortably in straight sets 6–2, 6–4 and in doing so, extending her winning streak to 6 games in a row over Radwanska. In the finals the pressure was on for Azarenka, as Serena Williams was looking very impressive through out the tournament and would face Azarenka in the finals. This was the first meeting since the 2011 US Open match they had in which Williams won. Azarenka was beaten easily in the final by Williams 6–1, 6–3. The result gave Azarenka only her 3rd defeat of the year. Azarenka's next tournament was the 2012 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, she advanced to the third round quite easily but then with drew from the tournament and avoided a third round clash with Dominika Cibulkova, due to a right shoulder strain.

Azarenka's next tournament will be the French Open.

Career statistics[link]

Grand Slam finals[link]

Singles: 1 (1–0)[link]

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	2012	Australian Open	Hard	Maria Sharapova	6–3, 6–0

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Tennis portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Victoria Azarenka

• Official website
• Victoria Azarenka on Facebook
• Victoria Azarenka on Twitter
• Victoria Azarenka at the Women's Tennis Association
• Victoria Azarenka at the International Tennis Federation

Victoria Azarenka (Achievement precedessor & successor) Sporting positions Preceded by Caroline Wozniacki World No. 1 30 January 2012 – present Succeeded by Incumbent Awards Preceded by Michaëlla Krajicek ITF Junior World Champion 2005 Succeeded by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Preceded by Serena Williams & Venus Williams WTA Fan Favorite Doubles Team of the Year (with Maria Kirilenko) 2011 Succeeded by Incumbent