Two-time Grand Slam champion falls to her lowest ranking in seven years after continued poor form

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The stakes are getting higher ahead of the second Grand Slam tournament of the year at Roland Garros.

Carlos Alcaraz won the Italian Open for the first time in his career after beating Jannik Sinner in straight sets.

While Sinner was unable to win his home Masters 1000 title, Jasmine Paolini lifted the Italian Open in both singles and doubles.

As a result of their respective victories, both Alcaraz and Paolini have been rewarded with ranking improvements, but not everyone has been so fortunate.

Victoria Azarenka falls to her lowest WTA ranking since 2018

One of those players is former world number one and two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka.

Azarenka reached the Italian Open quarter-finals last year, but suffered a second round defeat to Magdalena Frech at the 2025 tournament.

This has continued a poor start to the season for the former Australian Open champion, with Azarenka winning only 39% of her matches so far this year.

Azarenka has been unable to win back-to-back matches since the US Open last year, and as a result has suffered a significant rankings drop.

In the most recent WTA rankings update Azarenka is the biggest faller inside the top 100, dropping 19 places down to world number 73.

This is the Belarusian’s lowest ranking since August 2018, as Azarenka heads into Roland Garros out-of-form.

Could Victoria Azarenka retire from tennis this year?

With Azarenka now 35-years-old, there have been some questions over her future and whether retirement could be on the horizon.

The last time that she reached a WTA final was at Indian Wells in 2021, and her latest title is even further back at the Cincinnati Open in August 2020.

However, Azarenka has enjoyed some impressive Grand Slam runs since then, having reached the Australian Open semi-finals in 2023.

The new world number 73 has not given any indication over her immediate future, but Azarenka has also had injury concerns this year that forced her to miss the start of the clay court season.

Azarenka will look to return to form at Roland Garros, which is statistically her worst performing Grand Slam tournament.