It has been almost a year since Victoria Azarenka played a competitive match. The former World No. 1’s last appearance on the Tour had come at the 2025 US Open, where she was defeated 6-1, 7-5 by Jessica Pegula in the third round. But her sudden disappearance from the circuit hasn’t been questioned by many. It was as if nobody even noticed that she had stopped competing altogether. But now, tennis insider Lorenzo Rotoloni has raised serious questions over Azarenka’s confusing absence from the sport.
“This is not an editorial asking Victoria Azarenka to explain herself,” he wrote in his editorial for tennistiebreaks. “She owes us nothing about her private life. This is an editorial asking something else: how can one of the greatest players of her generation disappear from the Tour for almost an entire year without her absence becoming a major story? Where are the questions? Where is the curiosity? How did we simply stop asking where Victoria Azarenka is?”
While it is unclear whether the 37-year-old Azarenka will play tennis again, Rotoloni believes that fans will eventually get to know the reason behind her long absence.
“I do not know whether Victoria Azarenka will play professional tennis again. Maybe she will return, and this silence will suddenly make sense. Maybe New York was unknowingly the final chapter of an extraordinary career. But if a player of this magnitude can quietly disappear and tennis barely stops to ask where she went, something feels deeply wrong. So, the question is not only, ‘Where is Victoria Azarenka?’ It is also: ‘How did we stop noticing she was gone?'” he concluded.
Azarenka became the World No. 1 in 2012. She achieved the milestone after winning the Australian Open title by defeating Maria Sharapova in the final. The Belarusian held the ranking for a total of 51 weeks and held the top spot for the year-end rankings in 2012.
Additionally, Azarenka won two Olympic medals during the same year. She clinched bronze in the singles category, which was Belarus’ first-ever medal in tennis. She then took gold alongside Max Mirnyi in mixed doubles. She would continue to be a regular figure on the WTA circuit until 2014, when injuries started affecting her.
A foot injury kept her out for several months and pretty much derailed her 2014 season. She then had to take a hiatus in 2016 due to pregnancy. She gave birth to her son, Leo, in December and was only able to return roughly a year later at the Mallorca Championships.
The Belarusian failed to maintain consistency on the Tour since this year, and her results remained mixed. She remained a part of the Tour for more than a decade after this, but wasn’t able to achieve the highs of 2012 again. Her results were mixed at best, and her performances began to deteriorate as age caught up with her.
Though it isn’t surprising to see veteran players taking indefinite hiatuses, what makes Azarenka’s situation very surprising is that she was quite active on the Tour in 2025. But she went MIA without explaining anything to anyone, just months later.
Victoria Azarenka played several tournaments in the 2025 season
Though she wasn’t able to clinch any titles, Azarenka did play 12 tournaments during the 2025 season. She participated in all four Grand Slams and also played multiple other Masters events.
While the results weren’t great, as Azarenka won only 11 matches throughout the season, she was in the headlines on several occasions. The 37-year-old’s best result came at the Bad Homburg Open, where she reached the Round of 16.
As for Grand Slams, Azarenka suffered first-round exits at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. But she got to the second round in Paris, and her best result came in New York, where she reached the third round.
Azarenka also played multiple doubles draws during the year, but wasn’t able to win any titles. She and Ashlyn Krueger did come close, though, as they reached the semifinals of the Madrid Open. But they then suffered a 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 defeat to Elise Mertens and Veronika Kudermetova.
So, it indeed is very shocking that Azarenka suddenly decided to step away from the sport after playing throughout the 2025 season and didn’t make any announcement about it either. She isn’t expected to return to the court in 2026, but her fans would certainly want to know the reason why she suddenly disappeared from the circuit.