{"id":49339,"date":"2025-04-25T12:17:09","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T12:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/49339\/"},"modified":"2025-04-25T12:17:09","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T12:17:09","slug":"something-happened-on-the-wta-tour-for-the-first-time-since-1995-following-victoria-azarenkas-madrid-open-defeat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/49339\/","title":{"rendered":"Something happened on the WTA Tour for the first time since 1995 following Victoria Azarenka\u2019s Madrid Open defeat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Victoria Azarenka\u2019s chances of winning the Madrid Open came to a swift end.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Belarusian had reached the final in the Spanish capital on two previous occasions but she was unable to return to the championship match this year.<\/p>\n

The two-time Grand Slam champion has struggled this season having won just three matches so far.<\/p>\n

But Azarenka could not reach the next round of the Madrid Open<\/a> after falling short against Serbia\u2019s Olga Danilovi\u0107.<\/p>\n

\"PhotoPhoto by Ion Alcoba Beitia\/Getty ImagesVictoria Azarenka\u2019s Madrid Open defeat creates WTA Tour rankings history<\/strong><\/p>\n

Victoria Azarenka<\/a> took on Danilovi\u0107 after returning following an injury sustained at the Miami Open<\/a>.<\/p>\n

She faced the 24-year-old for the first time and Danilovi\u0107 stormed to victory, winning 6-4, 6-2 in just 90 minutes.<\/p>\n

Danilovi\u0107 is in imperious form as she lost just one of her last 12 matches, while Azarenka\u2019s tough season continues.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The former World number one\u2019s defeat marks the end of an era as she will drop out of the top 50 after the Madrid Open.<\/p>\n

When this happens, there will no longer be any player born in the 1980s ranked inside the WTA\u2019s<\/a> top 50.<\/p>\n

This has not happened since May 1995, which marks the end of the generation in women\u2019s tennis that contributed so much to the game.<\/p>\n

\"PhotoPhoto credit should read PETER PARKS\/AFP via Getty ImagesHow many WTA players born in the 1980s have won Grand Slams?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Players born in the 1980s made a significant contribution to women\u2019s tennis.<\/p>\n

16 players born in this decade lifted Grand Slam titles, and the first player to do this was Martina Hingis back in 1997, when she won the Australian Open<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The last player born in the 1980s to win a Grand Slam was Angelique Kerber, who beat Serena Williams<\/a> to win the 2016 Australian Open.<\/p>\n

Speaking of Williams, she won the most majors from players born in the aforementioned decade.<\/p>\n

The American won 23 Grand Slams in her career, the first of which came at the 1999 US Open<\/a>, and the last came at Melbourne Park in 2017, when she defeated her sister Venus Williams<\/a>, who claimed seven majors of her own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Victoria Azarenka\u2019s chances of winning the Madrid Open came to a swift end. The Belarusian had reached the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49340,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4105],"tags":[22484,79,1068,16,15,24203,5069],"class_list":{"0":"post-49339","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-madrid-open","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-tennis","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-victoria-azarenka","14":"tag-wta"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114398563147369929","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}