Tennis superstar Victoria Azarenka is one step closer to resuming her pro career -- after getting a huge win in her custody case that should clear the path for her to travel with her baby again.
As we previously reported, Azarenka -- who's a citizen of Belarus -- went to war with her baby daddy Billy McKeague in 2017 after he filed paternity papers in L.A., where Azarenka trains.
The filing resulted in the judge forbidding either parent to take the child out of California until an agreement was reached.
The problem ... Azarenka (the former #1 ranked player) competes all over the world -- but she refused to leave her 1-year-old child behind. As a result, she pulled out of the US Open, the Australian Open and the ASB Classic in Auckland.
Azarenka argued the case belongs in Belarus -- where she was previously awarded primary custody by a Belarusian court.
Now, TMZ Sports has learned the California judge has ruled in Azarenka's favor -- agreeing the case doesn't belong in CA or anywhere in the U.S.
But she's not out of the woods yet ... McKeague has 3 weeks to appeal the ruling. We're told Azarenka's camp is confident they will win that battle as well, based on the judge's strongly-worded 65-page opinion.
We're told Azarenka's plan is to move back to Belarus with their son as soon as she can -- but she wants McKeague to be in the kid's life and hopes to have an amicable co-parenting relationship with him moving forward.