2018 - US OPEN - USA, NY

Belarus in bloom: From Zvereva to Azarenka, Sasnovich and Sabalenka

Since becoming independent in 1991, Belarus has produced 11 Top 100 players - and the future looks even brighter, with three Belarusians making the third round at a major for the first time in history this week at the US Open, and Aryna Sabalenka still alive in the fourth round. Take a look at the country's past, present and future here.

01 /17
Natasha Zvereva was Belarus's first legend of tennis, winning 18 Grand Slam titles in doubles - including 14 with Gigi Fernandez in an iconic partnership - and four mixed doubles majors (Getty)
02 /17
Zvereva also partnered a 16-year-old Martina Hingis to the Swiss prodigy's second doubles Slam at the 1997 Australian Open (Getty)
03 /17
In singles, Zvereva peaked at World No.5 in 1989 after reaching the Roland Garros final in 1988, but one of her greatest runs would come at Wimbledon a decade later, when she beat Stefanie Graf and Monica Seles to reach the Wimbledon semifinals (Getty)
04 /17
During the '90s, Tatiana Ignatieva (the 1990 Roland Garros girls' finalist) and Olga Barabanschikova (the 1998 Istanbul finalist, pictured, who also made the fourth round at Wimbledon 2000) followed, peaking at No.91 and No.49 respectively (Getty)
05 /17
Tatiana Poutchek was an eight-time doubles champion and Grand Slam mainstay between 2000 and 2011, hitting a career high of No.55 in 2002 - the year she reached her sole singles final in Tashkent (Getty)
06 /17
Nadejda Ostrovskaya, who won ten ITF titles, scored two wins over future Roland Garros champion Anastasia Myskina and played the Australian Open and Wimbledon main draws once each, scored a career high ranking of No.96 in January 2001 (Getty)
07 /17
Anastasiya Yakimova cracked the Top 100 in 2005, reached a career high of No.49 the following year, made the third round of the Australian Open in 2007 and captured wins over Marion Bartoli and Jelena Jankovic (Getty)
08 /17
Olga Govortsova, a four-time WTA finalist - including Moscow 2009 at Premier level - and former World No.35, reached the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2015 and returned to the game this year after maternity leave (Getty)
09 /17
Victoria Azarenka became the first Belarusian singles Grand Slam champion and World No.1 at the 2012 Australian Open after routing Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-0 in the final (Getty)
10 /17
Azarenka, who defended her Melbourne title in 2013, is also a two-time US Open finalist, an Olympic bronze medallist in singles and gold medallist in mixed doubles, and a 20-time WTA Tour champion (Getty)
11 /17
With Azarenka on maternity leave, Belarus were underdogs in the 2017 Fed Cup World Group - but, spearheaded by Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Aryna Sabalenka, they upset their way into the country's first final (Getty)
12 /17
2016 Australian Open junior champion Vera Lapko has long been tipped as a talent, and the 19-year-old broke the Top 100 this May after reaching her maiden semifinal in Lugano (Getty)
13 /17
Aliaksandra Sasnovich was the first to use the Fed Cup run as a springboard to the next level in her own career in 2018, reaching the Brisbane final in January, upsetting Petra Kvitova at Wimbledon and now sitting at a career high of No.33 (Getty)
14 /17
20-year-old Aryna Sabalenka has also roared up the rankings this year: over the US Open Series she has scored five Top 10 wins so far, lifted her maiden trophy in New Haven and has made her first Slam fourth round in New York (Getty)
15 /17
Sabalenka, who was ranked No.111 this time last year, is now perched at a career high of No.20 - the third player from Belarus to break the Top 20; after beating Petra Kvitova in the third round at Flushing Meadows, is poised to climb even higher (Getty)
16 /17
Belarus's next generation is also strong: 18-year-old Yuliya Hatouka, the current World No.546, won her maiden ITF $25,000 title in Almaty this week (Tennis Europe)
17 /17
15-year-old Viktoriya Kanapatskaya is the current junior World No.28 - and the third-youngest player in the junior Top 30 (Tennis Europe)

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