Victoria Azarenka's Most Difficult Challenges at 2013 French Open

World No. 3 Victoria Azarenka has experienced her share of troubles at the French Open, but she may have turned the corner on her professional career since last season after an Australian Open victory and an appearance in the final at the U.S. Open.

The 23-year-old went on to defend her Australian Open title in 2013 with a victory over Li Na in three sets. She followed that performance with a defense of her Qatar Total Open title with her first win over world No. 1 Serena Williams since 2009.

Azarenka battled an ankle injury following those wins, but it should be smooth sailing for the former No. 2 player in the world as her first French Open match draws near.

As the No. 3 seed at Roland Garros, Azarenka is slated to face off with Elena Vesnina Tuesday afternoon at 1 p.m. ET in the opening round. Let’s take a look at the biggest challenges she faces in pursuit of her first French Open title, beginning with her first matchup.

First-Round Folly

Just three years ago, Azarenka turned in her worst French Open performance since 2007 with a first-round exit at the hands of Gisela Dulko. While she was in the process of coming back from an injury, that early exit had to resonate with the budding star, especially as the season progressed and her Grand Slam woes continued.

2010 proved to be a difficult year for Azarenka in Grand Slam events. She had a third-round exit at Wimbledon and a second-round loss at the U.S. Open. And it all started with a poor performance at the French Open.

But Azarenka has made marked improvement since that time, both in her play and in her mental makeup. In order to avoid a similar collapse this year, she’ll need to put both together and dispatch Vesnina in short order to build confidence for the rest of the tournament.

Confidence is something every player must possess to make a run in any tournament. An opening-round win will go a long way toward giving Azarenka that extra boost she needs to traverse the draw for a potential showdown in the final.

 

What Lies Between

Azarenka has as much talent as any young player in tennis, but physical talent doesn’t translate to wins if there isn’t a level of poise to go with it. A lot of her success starts and ends with what she has between her ears.

Azarenka admits that after her fourth-round loss at Wimbledon in 2011, she wanted to quit playing tennis altogether—frustration that seems to have bothered her during much of her short career, as quoted in an Associated Press report: “I decided I didn't want to play anymore and I had to re-evaluate a lot of things.”

She went on to say, however, that after some time back home in Belarus, she came to the conclusion that she wanted to start enjoying her time on the court and focusing more on that aspect of tennis:

“I understood how much I loved tennis, and that every time I step out on the court I want to have fun and enjoy playing.”

That realization seemed to be a turning point in her career, and as long as she continues with that mindset at Roland Garros, she won’t struggle to contend with the rest of the field.

That’s easier said than done, though.

The true test of her mental makeup will come when she’s tested for the first time in the tournament. But as we’ve seen before from the world No. 3, there are few players on the planet who can beat her when she has control of the mental side of her game.

 

A Final Test

Not that Serena Williams hasn’t enjoyed similar success against most of the French Open field, but she has a particularly impressive record against Azarenka, and a record that could stand in the way of a first French Open title for the latter.

The world No. 1 is 12-2 against Azarenka and 7-0 in Grand Slam events. Williams is playing some of her best tennis this season, and there’s a good chance a French Open victory will have to go through her.

Several players in the field will be difficult matchups, but none are guaranteed of meeting Azarenka in the final if she makes it that far. Williams is the most likely candidate.

A win over Williams at any point in any Grand Slam event would be a massive turning point in the 23-year-old’s career, and she could very well have the chance at Roland Garros this week.