Monday, March 7, 2011

Azarenka: Is the World Number 11 Will Make It Into The World Number 1?

By Ramitin Goodman


Victoria Azarenka was given birth on July 31, 1989 in Minsk, Belarus. She is a competitive tennis player who became a Junior World Champion in 2005. She won the 2007 US Open Mixed Doubles Title with her partner Max Mirnyi, as well as the 2008 French Open with Bob Bryan. live in Scottsdale, Arizona and undergone her training in Marbella, Spain. On February 23, 2009, she achieved a career high of No. 11 in Singles.

In 2005, Azarenka got both the Australian and US Open as a Junior and was named the ITF Junior Girls World Title for that year. She was the pioneer player from Belarus to do that. She also triumphed her first ITF title in Petange, Luxembourg in the same season. In China, she reached her first pro-level semifinal, winning 3 qualitfying rounds and beating both Martina Such and Shuai Peng in the primary draw before being defeated by the event champ, Yan Zi.

Everyday Azarenka have been one of the first players out on the field to exercise. Together with her trainer, Mark Wellington, 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 gradually speed up until both player and trainer are quick-stepping to keep it in front of them. Usually, you'll see players take small breaks during these types of routines and share a laugh together with their instructor. But not Azarenka. When the ball gets past her, you can see her stamping her foot in frustration.

The 19-year-old tennis player 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 season. The only defeat to date was against Serena Williams at the Australian Open, when she disappointingly had departed in the fourth-round match because of dizziness and some forms of illness.

Azarenka posted a 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 6-3 quarter-final win over Safina, who would have claimed the World's No.1 ranking from Serena Williams by reaching the final. However for Azarenka, she ran into a player filled with confidence after taking her first two career WTA Titles this season - in Brisbane and Memphis. Safina seemed to achieve the match up in her grasp when she took a 3-1 lead in the third set, but she couldn't keep the supremacy.

Shahar Pe'er's excellent run in the singles draw at Indian Wells came to an abrupt end, but at the very least she could console herself with moving forward towards the Semi-finals of the doubles event hours later. Despite converting four of her five break points, Pe'er was on her back foot for most of the fight, with Azarenka governing the Israeli's service games, breaking six times.




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