Victoria Azarenka is a Belarussian tennis player, who made her professional debut in 2003. Born in Minsk, in 1989, she moved to the US at the age of 15 for better opportunities. She became the first Belarussian athlete, male or female, to ever win a Grand Slam title ever. Azarenka held the number 1 spot for 51 weeks when she ascended to the top for the first time in 2012.
The former world number 1 has 2 Grand Slam titles in the women’s singles category, winning the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013. She also has 2 Grand Slam mixed titles and an Olympic gold.
As illustrious as her professional life has been, the Belarussian hasn’t found that kind of success in her personal life. She has been in a few relationships since the start of her career, one of them involving Billy McKeague.
The two of them started dating quite soon after meeting each other for the first time and fell in love. In 2016, Victoria Azarenka gave girth to a son named Leo. Things went awry soon after and they decided to part ways. What followed was months and months of an ugly legal battle, over the custody of their son.
On the 2nd birthday of her son, apparent that Victoria Azarenka’s custody dispute is still unresolved.
Billy McKeague won an appeal which stated that “the Belarus court had no jurisdiction,” with it instead staying in Los Angeles.
Unclear how this might affect her 2019 season.
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) December 19, 2018
The player even had to miss out on playing at the US Open in 2017 due to the custody battle. “Shortly after Wimbledon, Leo’s father and I separated, and as we work to resolve some of the legal processes, the way things stand now is that the only way I can play in the US Open this year is if I leave Leo behind in California, which I’m not willing to do.” said the player in a statement.
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Azarenka eventually went on to win the custody battle and returned to tennis in 2018 at Indian Wells. She even spent the covid-19 pandemic at home with her son.
Victoria Azarenka’s past relationships
Victoria dated Sergei Bubka Jr. from 2011-2012. Sergei is the son of Olympic pole vault champion Sergei Bubka. She has also dated Stefan Gordy, popularly known as Redfoo, an American singer-songwriter. While they were dating, Stefan was frequently seen attending Azarenka’s games. The couple split in 2014.
#Tennis pics; Victoria #Azarenka & #RedFoo during @WorldTennisDay at @thegarden New York lastnight. #HappyTime pic.twitter.com/PCtSRTdJCc
— Abied (@fi_sonic) March 5, 2013
The Belarussian beauty was involved in a controversy when her relationship with Humberto Lobo Guerra became known. Humberto is a professional tennis player too. Their relationship drew flak from fans because Humberto Guerra was only 20 years old at the time. The major issue was the age difference between the two.