Vika Azarenka on the up

Don’t try talking to Victoria Azarenka about the past two years of her tennis career.

The 26-year-old two-time Australian Open winner endured an injury plagued 2014 before a stop-start 2015 ended with her ranked outside the world top 20 for the second straight year.

It’s a long way from the her time as the world No.1 in 2012.

But the Belarusian doesn’t see any benefit in dwelling on the past as she prepares to get back to the top starting with the Brisbane International, which gets underway on Sunday.

“In my head my best is still to come,” Azarenka said after a brief practice session at Pat Rafter Arena on Wednesday.

“I’ve been working a lot on my game and overall getting everything put together. We’ll see.

“The past is in the past so it’s kind of irrelevant to talk about it. That’s enough.”

Since reaching the final of the 2013 US Open, Azarenka hasn’t reached a grand slam semi-final.

She was eliminated last year in Brisbane in her opening match to Czech Karolina Pliskova but did reach the fourth round of the Australian Open before being eliminated by Dominika Cibulkova.

Quarter-final appearances at both Wimbledon and the US Open suggested the tide may be turning in Azarenka’s favour and Australia appears a perfect place for her career reboot to begin in earnest.

A winner at Melbourne Park in 2012 and 2013, Azarenka has also claimed singles titles in Sydney and Brisbane in the past.

“The only thing is some of the creatures that live here, I’m kind of scared of them … but I feel like the energy here is really amazing,” she said.

“For me it’s one of the most important things to feel the energy of people and everybody’s so friendly and that makes it very easy going. I love that vibe.”