FCI Staff Writer Sacramento 
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November 4, 2023,
When considering their future, a super star like Victoria Azarenka should have plenty of choices and options.
She has many wonderful attributes.
Determined.
Tough.
Super talented and more.
One thing she would not be described as, is shy.
She has a voice. A strong one and she is not afraid to use it to speak out on important causes beneficial to today’s players. She is a current member of the WTA Player’s council.
The Players’ Council is a group or sub-committee under the WTA board of directors, consisting of eight selected players on the tour that advocate player interest, handles grievances, changes in the tennis schedule and other concerns.
As reported by tennis.com, “Azarenka, a long-running member of the WTA Players’ Council, would waste no time on a myriad of other subjects, treating the media to a marathon State of the Tour—in which she outlined her general frustration, biggest grievances, and ambitious solutions as the WTA prepares to commence a strategic partnership with CVC Capital Partners.”
Victoria seems ideal for the job.
As of this November 4, 2023, writing, Victoria is ranked number 22 and at 34 years young, continues to play very well.
In January of this year, Femcompetitor Magazine (femcompetitor.com) praised her greatly.
“As reported by ESPN, “Victoria Azarenka displayed the same confident brand of hard-hitting baseline tennis that carried her to two Australian Open titles and the No. 1 ranking a decade ago, beating Jessica Pegula 6-4, 6-1 on Tuesday night to return to the semifinals at Melbourne Park.”
A veteran war horse, it’s time to get reacquainted with Ms. Azarenka.
Victória is a Belarusian professional tennis player.
She is a former world No. 1 in singles, having claimed the top ranking for the first time on January 30, 2012.
She was the year-end No. 1 in 2012 and has held the top ranking for a combined total of 51 weeks. That was also a year of the Olympics in England. Seems so long ago. How time flies.
Think about it. She was number one for 51 weeks and that was a time period when Serena Williams was still a force.
In fact, Victoria’s most notable rivalry is against Serena Williams. They have met 23 times, including eleven times in Grand Slams, with Serena Williams leading their head-to-head 18–5, 10–1 in Grand Slams, and 5–4 in finals.
5-4 is razor thin, against arguably the best professional female tennis player in history.
Those type of battles on Grand Slam stages will absolutely make you battle hardened.
Azarenka has won 21 WTA singles titles, including two Grand Slam singles titles at the 2012 and 2013 Australian Open, becoming the first Belarusian player, male or female, to win a Grand Slam tournament singles title.
She is also a three-time major finalist at the US Open, finishing runner-up to Serena Williams in both 2012 and 2013 and to Naomi Osaka in 2020.
When you have gone toe to toe with those two giants, in their prime, on the world’s biggest tennis stage, the mighty US Open, arguably that will turn you into a hardened war house.
In singles she also won six Premier Mandatory tournaments, four Premier 5 tournaments, and the singles bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
She was the runner-up at the 2011 WTA Finals to Petra Kvitová, reached three other Grand Slam singles semifinals (Wimbledon in 2011 and 2012 and the French Open in 2013), and had nine other major quarterfinal appearances.
She finished with a year-end top 10 singles ranking for five consecutive years between 2009 and 2013.
When you have that much experience in the past, the only major concern in the present is are you healthy?
Against Jessica, Victoria appeared very healthy, running down one shot after another and returning down the line, in the corners and other places where Jessica appeared not to be.
Part of Victoria’s recent decline in the rankings was due to a very public and lengthy child custody battle.
Victoria’s 2014 season was decimated by a foot injury.
As a result, she missed five months of the season, and called an early end to her season in September. The injuries forced her to miss seven of her first 16 events of the season, including the 2014 French Open.
Azarenka only managed to make it to one final all season, in her first tournament of the year in Brisbane, where she lost to, drum roll please, Serena Williams in straight sets.
Iron sharpens iron.
In terms of Victoria’s resume, we think you get the point.
So, when Jessica faced Victoria in what should have been the biggest match for the number three player in the world, in all fairness, she just didn’t have the credentials and experience to defeat an internally tough, healthy, deeply experienced and hungry Victoria Azarenka.
As we watched the match, Jessica fell behind early and never recovered.”
That is what Victoria Azarenka can do to you.
She lets her racquet do the talking on the world’s largest stage and it speaks volumes.
Many are listening. In very high lucrative places.
Victoria is one of the most profitable stars in women’s tennis.
She is endorsed by Nike for clothing, footwear, and apparel, and is frequently featured in promotional material for the company.
Red Bull entered into a deal with Victoria in January 2013, making her the first tennis player sponsor for the beverage and sports investment giant.
Throughout her career, Victoria has been sponsored by numerous racquet companies: from the start of her junior career, up to 2012, she was sponsored by Head, and used the Head Extreme racquet. Between 2012 and 2017, she was sponsored by Wilson, using the Wilson Ultra 100 racquet. Upon her return to tennis after pregnancy in 2017, our super star signed an endorsement deal with Yonex for racquets, using the EZONE 100 racquet.
Other endorsement partners include American Express, Citizen Watch, and Six Star Pro Nutrition.
Victoria was also endorsed by the investment company Instaforex between 2013 and 2016.
Citizen Watch manufactured an exclusive range of watches designed by Azarenka in 2013.
With over $28.1 million in prize money, Victoria is seventh on the list of all-time WTA prize money leaders.
A wonderful present.
An extremely bright future.
The players have greatly benefited from Victoria’s voice.
If you have a powerful voice, like Victoria, and an elite tennis game, the present and future will always be bright.
~ ~ ~
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Azarenka
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_Tennis_Association
https://www.fciwomenswrestling2.com
https://www.fcielitecompetitor.com/
https://fciwomenswrestling.com/
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