The 2026 French Open player entry lists were released on April 14, and Victoria Azarenka is absent once again.
Azarenka, 36, the former World No. 1, Grand Slam, Sunshine Double, and Olympic champion, has not played competitive tennis in 2026.
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What does her prolonged absence mean?
No one is talking about her on the WTA Tour. It is as if she vanished off the tennis landscape.
Azarenka is a single mother. Her son Leo is nine years old. Perhaps she is sitting out tournaments during the school year and plans to return for the summer grass and hardcourt seasons.
Aug 30, 2024; Flushing, NY, USA; Victoria Azarenka hits a backhand against Yafan Wang (CHN) (not pictured) in a womenâs singles match on day five of the 2024 U.S. Open tennis tournament at Billie Jean King USTA National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
One of Aryna Sabalenkaâs coaches and another famed Belarusian tennis star, Max Mirnyi, won a mixed doubles Grand Slam (2007 US Open) and an Olympic gold medal (2012 London) with her. Someone should ask him what he knows about Azarenkaâs career plans.
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Does she plan to retire quietly?
With the year long physically and emotionally draining farewell tours that Stan Wawrinka and Gael Monfils are on, perhaps Azarenka prefers to exit the game quietly.
She would be revered in a retirement tour, as much or more than those two men. Azarenka is a former World No. 1, winner of two Grand Slam singles and two mixed doubles titles, and Olympic gold. She won 21 WTA singles titles, 10 doubles titles, and three mixed doubles titles.
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