Victoria Azarenka has been one of the most consistent players in the WTA Tour for over two decades. A two-time Australian Open champion and former World No. 1, the Belarusian was at the peak of her career in 2012 and 2013, holding the top spot in the WTA rankings for 51 weeks. However, apart from her triumphs on the court, as one of the mothers on tour, she has been championing important changes for women.
In 2016, Azarenka started the season with an impressive run, winning the Sunshine Double of Indian Well and Miami. However, not long after, she realized she was expecting a baby with her then-boyfriend Billy McKeague. She announced the news on Twitter with a hopeful message. She said she was “truly inspired by female athletes who return to the very top of their sport after having children, and I plan to do exactly that.”
However, she later recognized she wasn’t sure she could recover her career. “I was scared, it wasn’t easy,” she told BBC in 2019. “I knew I was going to come back, but my first thought was, ‘Oh my god, I’m never going to play tennis again.’”
In December of that year, she gave birth to her son, Leo, and in 2017, she made her comeback on the tour, winning her first match back. However, when everything seemed set for a smooth return to the court, she found herself involved in a custody battle that halted her career.
Victoria Azarenka (Getty Images)
Azarenka missed tournaments to fight for custody
Azarenka and McKeague split in August 2017, starting a painful legal process. As they could not agree on custody terms, the two-time major champion had to withdraw from the US Open. “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,” she wrote on her social media.
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After missing other tournaments and a lengthy process, it was reported that Azarenka won the custody battle in January 2018. “I wouldn’t wish that on anybody to go through what I’ve been going through,” she told the press in April of that year.
Victoria Azarenka and her son Leo in Australia, 2022 (Getty Images)
However, once Azarenka returned to the tour, she climbed her way back over the next few years. One of her highlights was reaching the 2020 US Open final against Naomi Osaka and pushing for better protections for mothers in the sport.
Supporting mothers on tour
Azarenka became a leading voice for maternal rights in tennis, pushing for policies that would allow players to take maternity leave without sacrificing their rankings and advocating for financial support for mothers on tour.
In 2019, the WTA updated its rules to protect rankings for players on maternity leave. Azarenka didn’t stop there—she continued to push for financial support, telling BBC Sport in 2024 that “the important part is to change the financial part of maternity leave.”
Victoria Azarenka (Getty Images)
In 2025, the WTA announced that players are now eligible for paid maternal leave, marking a historic moment in the sport’s history. Eligible WTA players can receive up to 12 months of paid maternity leave.
She keeps breaking records
Even at 35, Azarenka is rewriting the record books. At the 2025 French Open, she stormed into the second round with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Yanina Wickmayer, becoming the oldest player in the Open era to win a Grand Slam match with a ‘double bagel.’ It was her fifth career double bagel at a major, putting her just behind Maria Sharapova and Kim Clijsters.
Azarenka also became the first woman to record a Grand Slam double bagel in three different decades. While maybe not as dominant as she once was, Azarenka keeps showing that her career is far from over.
