Try the workout that helped put Victoria Azarenka in the Top 10.

For more of Azarenka's workout, go to TENNIS.com/azarenkafitness.

By Sarah Unke
Photographs by Manuela Davies/Doubleexposure

Ever since she started training her butt off at the end of last season, Victoria Azarenka has been on a hot streak. She came into the year without a title and ranked No. 16. Now, she’s hit a career-high No. 8 and has won three events, including the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, where she beat Serena Williams in the final. A big part of what’s behind her breakthrough is her improved fitness. “The training has improved my movement a lot,” Azarenka says. “I have more options because I’m not so rushed now in getting to the ball. I also know I can keep my intensity high without getting tired.”

Since last October, Azarenka has trained with Mark Wellington, the guy who whipped Maria Sharapova into shape to win her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2004. Now Wellington is the director of the performance training center at the International Tennis Academy in Delray Beach, Fla. A certified strength and conditioning specialist with a master’s in exercise science, Wellington says it’s important to train the entire body. “There are different aspects of what it takes to be in top shape to play tennis. Not just running, not just lifting, but movement, core, taking care of the body, everything,” he says. Wellington breaks the program down into eight sections: warm-up, core, conditioning, “prehabilitation,” movement, power, strength and recovery. Here, Azarenka and Wellington show you a sample of each area.

Warm-up: Soccer Ball Toss
Azarenka does a 20-minute warm-up, including a light jog and dynamic stretches. Toward the end of the warm-up, she does faster exercises like this to get her fast-twitch muscle fibers firing.

Stand facing a partner about 6 feet away and hold a soccer ball in both hands. Shadow your backhand, taking the ball back and throwing it to your partner on the follow-through. When your partner throws the ball back, catch it on the opposite side, cradling it back like your forehand take-back. Many players use heavier balls for this exercise, but you should use a light ball to warm up. “When you swing with a medicine ball first, you’re not activating the fast-twitch fibers,” Wellington says. “The racquet’s going to feel faster because it’s light, but the speed you can generate will actually be a bit less.” Repeat 10–12 times and do 1–2 sets.

Core: Physio Ball Pillar
A strong core is the foundation of your tennis game. When you’re sprinting explosively on court, your core is what helps you control your movement and execute your shots. In this exercise, put your elbows on a physio ball and extend your legs out behind you. Support yourself on your toes, which should be about hip-width apart, and hold your body in a straight line from the top of your head to your heels. For an added challenge, have a partner tap the ball lightly to destabilize you, as Wellington does here. “Sometimes she feels like she’s going to fall, but she just has to control that position,” he says, “so she draws her belly button in a little bit and that activates the abs.” Hold for 45 seconds to a minute. Repeat 3–4 times, resting 90 seconds between sets.

Conditioning: Cone Drill
Conditioning provides a fitness foundation to keep you going through matches. On days when Azarenka works on general fitness, she usually does 5 sets each of 4–5 drills like this one.

Place six cones on the court, two in line with each sideline, and the remaining two out to the front lined up with the middle of each service box. Stand in the center of the six cones in a ready position. Have a partner call out strokes, then run to the corresponding cone and shadow the shot. For example, if your partner yells “deep backhand,” sprint to the back left cone (if you’re right-handed) and shadow a backhand. Return to the middle for your next instruction. If it’s “forehand,” sprint to the middle right cone and shadow a forehand (see above). For “forehand volley,” sprint to the front right cone. Try the drill without balls, then add them as your fitness improves. “It’s difficult to put hitting and training together at the start,” Wellington says. “I don’t want Victoria to be worried if she’s getting tired about missing balls.” Continue for 20–60 seconds, rest for 60 seconds, and repeat. Do 5 sets.

Prehabilitation: Scarecrow
Prehabbing isn’t about building size. It’s about increasing stability in highly used areas on a tennis player’s body, the way this exercise does for the shoulders, rotator cuffs and upper back. “When we started in October, Victoria’s shoulders were so far forward, I mean totally rounded, her chest was very tight, the upper back was weak,” Wellington says. “We gradually tried to open up the shoulders a little bit.”

Lay flat on your stomach with 1–2-pound dumbbells in your hands. Bend your elbows to 90 degrees and rest the dumbbells on either side of your head. Lift your arms up by squeezing your shoulder blades together. Keeping your arms off the ground, move the dumbbells to the top Reverse the motion and relax. Do 2–3 sets of 10 repetitions.

Movement: Lateral Push
Many players, especially women, move using the wrong muscles. “The quad dominates too much,” Wellington says. “That can cause injuries. But it’s also not the most powerful push.” To develop proper mechanics, try this exercise. It’s designed to get you in the habit of first activating the glutes, then the quads and finally the calves for efficient movement.

Start by placing a resistance-training strap (Azarenka uses a Bullet Belt, available at performbetter.com) around your waist and have a partner hold it securely at your right. Get in a ready position with your hips back, your knees behind your toes, and your back straight. Step away from your partner, pushing explosively off your right leg, then return to the starting position. “The right foot should do 90 percent of the work, pushing you to the left,” Wellington says. “The more power you push into the ground, the same power comes back.” Do 3–4 sets of 3–4 pushes, then switch legs.

Power: Granny Toss
If you want to set yourself apart on the tennis court, you need explosive speed and power. While exercises for power are similar to basic strength moves, you use a heavier weight or resistance and do fewer repetitions to develop explosiveness.

For this exercise, hold a 6–12-pound medicine ball in both hands and drop your hips back into the ready position, with your knees behind your toes and your weight balanced between the balls and heels of your feet (but not on your toes). Push your legs into the ground as hard as you can to launch yourself upward as you lift the ball overhead. Release the ball when your arms are all the way up. Your body should be fully extended. Let the ball bounce, grab it, and repeat in rapid succession. “She’s on the ground as little time as possible,” Wellington says. “Each step that you take, to be able to push off that outside foot and get it off the ground as quickly as possible, that’s how you shave fractions of a second off each start, stop and change of direction. It gives you time to prepare for the next shot.” Do 3–4 sets of 6–8 repetitions, resting 2 1/2 minutes between sets.

Strength: Lateral Tube Step
“You can tell a good athlete when they’re walking away from you,” Wellington says. “It’s all about the back, glutes and hamstrings.” With Azarenka, he concentrates on strengthening those areas to give her more control and power and prevent injuries. This exercise focuses on the glutes. “She’s totally sick of this one because we do it every time,” Wellington says.

Stand in a ready position, hips back and knees behind your toes, with a resistance tube (available at performbetter.com) secured around your left ankle. Have a partner hold the other end of the tube while crouching in front and to the right of you. Keeping your head up and back straight, step your left foot back and to the side. Land on your heel. Return to the start and repeat 10–15 times, then switch legs. The band should be at a challenging resistance, but not so tight that you have to change your form to extend your leg. Do 3–4 sets on each side.

Recovery: Foam Rolling
At the end of a workout, a cool-down is essential. Azarenka does a 5–10-minute jog, followed by full-body stretching. Just as essential are regeneration days, where you skip heavy training and take care of your body with things like foam rolling, which loosens up tight muscles. “If you’re going to put that much hard work in, your body’s not going to hold up if you don’t keep up with these things,” Wellington says. “Tight spots can turn into strains and even tears in the muscle.”

Sit down and place a foam roller (available at performbetter.com) under your left hip. Slowly roll your glute down the cylinder and then back toward the hip. Continue for 45–60 seconds. Support your weight with your arms and right leg to control the intensity of massage. Go through the rest of your leg, including hip flexors, quads, hamstrings and calves. Repeat on the right leg.