Queen Victoria Begins Her Reign As No. 1 With AO Title

(January 28, 2012) She may have earned a few nicknames over her career, but “Queen Victoria” seems the most appropriate now after Victoria Azarenka put in a command performance to win her first Australian Open title and with it claim the No. 1 ranking.

Despite being a slight favorite over former champion Maria Sharapova, the question going in would be if Azarenka would be able to handle the moment of being in her first Major final. The early answer seemed no as Azarenka looked and played nervous in the opening two games. But after she settled in on her next service game, Azarenka reeled off eight of the next nine points to break Sharapova back and then held again for 3-2.

Azarenka began controlling many of the rallies not only with her favorite two-handed backhand but also with her forehand which yielded a surprising amount of winners for the Belarussian. Azarenka broke Sharapova again and then served out the set 6-3.

Sharapova was not about to give Azarenka the title, but the Russian’s game was well off its mark as Sharapova began hitting error after error for a total of 30 for the match. Sharapova’s “Plan A” style of attack never worked against Azarenka, a fact shown on the frustration and concern on the Russian’s face as her attempts to outhit or overpower Azarenka had no effect.

Azarenka broke early in the first game of the second set after a foray by Sharapova to the net saw her hit right back to Azarenka who passed her with ease. Sharapova had a chance to break back right away but Azarenka fought it off to hold serve and from there nothing Sharapova did could stop Azarenka’s momentum as she raced ahead to a 5-0 lead. If Sharapova was wishing Azarenka would get tight serving for the title, it was a false hope as Azarenka took advantage of her first match point that she converted after Sharapova netted a backhand giving Azarenka a 6-3, 6-0 win.

Sharapova, clearly disappointed by the loss, summed up the match by saying, “Yeah, she did everything better than I did today. You know, I had a good first couple of games, and that was about it. Then she was the one that was taking the first ball and hitting it deep and aggressive. I was always the one running around like a rabbit, you know, trying to play catch up all the time. Yeah, I mean, she was, you know, a step quicker. Her shot was, you know, bigger. First shot was bigger. Just not a good combination, I guess.”

When asked later how she was feeling about not only winning her first Major but also achieving the No. 1 ranking, Azarenka said, “Well, emotions is -- I don't know. I kind of have different emotions right now. Right after the win I couldn't understand what's happening, you know, and I could not believe the tournament is over because it's been so long, this road since Sydney. I didn't have one day off, so it kind of kept going kept going and right now it still hasn't hit me that it's over and I won this. I keep enjoying it.”