Victoria Azarenka's defeat in Madrid Open first-round sets unique record for first time since 1995

Former world number one Victoria Azarenka’s hopes of finding some form in Madrid came to a swift end. The 35-year-old suffered a defeat in the first round of the ongoing WTA 1000 event in the Spanish capital to Olga Danilovic.

That defeat marks the end of a significant era in women’s tennis. Because of that result, the two-time Grand Slam winner will go out of the top 50 in women’s tennis. It will be the first time since 1995 that no player born in the 1980s will feature in women’s tennis in top-50.

The result was a significant blow for Azarenka, who has been struggling with poor form and fitness concerns. This year, the Minsk-born star has crashed out of the competitions in the first round on three occasions. Despite featuring in seven different events this year, she has not managed to play in the quarterfinal of any competition.

Her first outing this year came at the Brisbane International, where she was knocked out after losing in the third round to Marie Bouzkova in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-4. At the Australian Open, the former world number one was knocked out after losing in the first round to Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti with a score of 7-6, 6-2.

After that, Azarenka featured in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship, where her journey ended in the second round after losing to world number two Iga Swiatek in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-0. Her next outing was the Indian Wells, where she lost in the second round to China’s Zheng Qinwen in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-3. Her most recent outing before featuring in the Madrid Open came at the Miami Ope,n where she was forced to retire during the second-round contest against Karolina Muchova. The final score of the match was 6-0, 0-0.