[18] At Wimbledon, Azarenka reached the semifinals of the girls' competition, only to be defeated by eventual runner-up Ana Ivanovic, despite having two match points in the marathon third set.

She showed no ill effects from a leg injury while winning her first two matches, but lost in the third round to seventh-seeded, defending champion and future rival Serena Williams.

At the BNP Paribas Open, Azarenka was seeded eighth and reached the semifinals, where she lost to her doubles partner and eventual champion Vera Zvonareva.

Azarenka also became the sixth teenage female singles champion in the history of this tournament, with the others being Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Venus Williams, and Gabriela Sabatini.

She ousted defending champion Ana Ivanovic in the fourth round, and advanced to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, where she fell to top seed Dinara Safina in three sets.

She led with a double break, before going on to lose nine of the next ten games, eventually conceding the match and retiring while trailing in the third set, citing severe cramping.

At the Andalucia Tennis Experience, she was the top seed but retired in her quarterfinal match against María José Martínez Sánchez, citing a left thigh injury.

After a bye, Azarenka beat Stéphanie Dubois, María José Martínez Sánchez, and Galina Voskoboeva, before being stopped by Serena Williams in the semifinals.

[43] Azarenka competed at the Australian Open as the third seed, defeating Heather Watson, Casey Dellacqua, Mona Barthel and Iveta Benešová in the first four rounds without dropping a set.

[49] Azarenka got her first gold medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics on 5 August 2012 with Max Mirnyi for Belarus, defeating Andy Murray and Laura Robson of Great Britain in a tiebreak.

She also finished the season with a 69–10 win–loss record and six titles, losing five of those matches to Serena Williams, two to Maria Sharapova, one to Marion Bartoli, one to Dominika Cibulková and the remaining loss coming on a retirement to Tamira Paszek.

[57] Azarenka's 2013 season ended with a poor showing at the 2013 WTA Tour Championships, winning only one of her three-round robin matches and failing to reach the semifinals for the first time since 2010.

[clarification needed] However, Azarenka reached the fourth round at the Australian Open, beating eight seed Caroline Wozniacki en route,[61] but lost to Dominika Cibulková in three sets.

[62] In Doha, Azarenka scored three wins over top-20 players, against Angelique Kerber, fifth ranked Wozniacki and Venus Williams, before losing to Lucie Šafářová in the final.

She reached the final after defeating Elena Vesnina, Ysaline Bonaventure, eighth seed Roberta Vinci and surprise qualifier Samantha Crawford.

[87] When the WTA Tour resumed she played her first tournament in five months at the Top Seed Open in Lexington where she lost in the first round to Venus Williams in straight sets.

[88] Azarenka next played at the Western & Southern Open, winning the title via walkover in the final, after Naomi Osaka withdrew citing a hamstring injury.

[93] In 2021, Azarenka first played at the Grampians Trophy, a tournament organised for players affected by the hard quarantine imposed upon those who travelled on flights that contained positive results for COVID-19.

[95] At the French Open, she reached the fourth round only for the fifth time in her career, defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova, Clara Tauson, and Madison Keys, before falling to eventual runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in three sets.

At the German Open, Azarenka reached the semifinals, defeating Andrea Petkovic, Angelique Kerber, and Jessica Pegula, before falling to the eventual champion, Liudmila Samsonova.

Partnering compatriot Aryna Sabalenka, Azarenka won the doubles event at the same tournament, defeating the top seeded pair of Demi Schuurs and Nicole Melichar.

[117] Due to her strong two-handed backhand, exceptional return game, mental strength, and preference for hard courts, she has been compared to Novak Djokovic.

Red Bull entered into a deal with Azarenka in January 2013, making her the first tennis player sponsor for the beverage and sports investment giant.

[128] Their next meeting would also be at the Australian Open, in the fourth round in 2009, and again Williams was victorious when the Belarusian was forced to retire due to illness, having won the first set but trailing 2–4 in the second.

Azarenka's third victory over Williams came in the final of the Western and Southern Open; again, a third set was required to decide the outcome, and on this occasion a final-set tiebreak proved to be the difference.

[143] Azarenka dominated the early rivalry, winning the first six meetings between the pair, including in the second round of the 2007 Australian Open, the final of the 2009 Brisbane International[144] and all four matches that eventuated in 2010.

[29][149] Their first meeting in a WTA Tour final came at the 2010 Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, which Azarenka won for her first (and fourth career) title that year.

Both players entered the championship match with one Grand Slam title each (Azarenka who the 2012 Australian Open, whilst Li won the 2011 French Open), and in very good form, with Azarenka only dropping one set throughout her run and Li Na having not dropped a set and also having defeated two top four players (Agnieszka Radwańska and Maria Sharapova) en route.

[159] Azarenka lost the pair's last meeting in straight sets at the 2013 WTA Tour Championships, playing through a back injury and winning just three games in the process.

[160] Chris Evert (1975/1985 – 260 w) Evonne Goolagong (1976 – 2 w) Martina Navratilova (1978/1987 – 331 w) Tracy Austin (1980 – 22 w) Steffi Graf (1987/1997 – 377 w) // Monica Seles (1991/1996 – 178 w) Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (1995 – 12 w) Martina Hingis (1997/2001 – 209 w) Lindsay Davenport (1998/2006 – 98 w) Jennifer Capriati (2001/2002 – 17 w) Venus Williams (2002 – 11 w) Serena Williams (2002/2017 – 319 w) Kim Clijsters (2003/2011 – 20 w) Justine Henin (2003/2008 – 117 w) Amélie Mauresmo (2004/2006 – 39 w) Maria Sharapova (2005/2012 – 21 w) Ana Ivanovic (2008 – 12 w) Jelena Janković (2008/2009 – 18 w) Dinara Safina (2009 – 26 w) Caroline Wozniacki (2010/2018 – 71 w) Victoria Azarenka (2012/2013 – 51 w) Angelique Kerber (2016/2017 – 34 w) Karolína Plíšková (2017 – 8 w) Garbiñe Muguruza (2017 – 4 w) Simona Halep (2017/2019 – 64 w) Naomi Osaka (2019 – 25 w) Ashleigh Barty (2019/2022 – 121 w) Iga Świątek (2022/2024 – 125 w) Aryna Sabalenka (2023/2024 – 9 w)