Victoria Azarenka Announces She's Pregnant with 1st Child
Sixth-ranked women's tennis player Victoria Azarenka announced Friday she is pregnant and expecting her first child.
The two-time Australian Open champion revealed the news on Twitter:
The 26-year-old Belarus native did not participate at Wimbledon due to a knee injury, and she will now miss both the Olympics and the U.S. Open.
While Vika will miss some big events over the next nine months, her statement suggests she fully intends to get back to the pinnacle of the tennis world following her pregnancy.
The former world No. 1 will have a long climb back to the top since her ranking will be greatly impacted by taking so much time away from the sport, but doing so wouldn't be unprecedented.
After retiring and having a child, Kim Clijsters returned to tennis in 2009 and went on to win three more Grand Slam titles before retiring for good following the 2012 season.
Azarenka is only a year older than Clijsters was when she had her child, so there is a precedent in place for her to strive toward.
With Azarenka out and Maria Sharapova currently serving a suspension, Serena Williams remains the unquestioned queen of women's tennis, and the path is clear for her to add another Olympic gold medal and U.S. Open title to her collection.
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