Azarenka wins Australian Open
9.10PM 28-1-2012
Belarusian Victoria Azarenka has claimed her maiden Grand Slam title with a comfortable straight sets victory over Russian Maria Sharapova in the Australian Open final on Saturday night.
Despite trailing early, Azarenka found her rhythm quickly to churn out the comprehensive 6-3 6-0 win in 82 minutes that also elevates her to the top ranking in women's tennis.
Sharapova was simply outclassed by the hard-hitting Azarenka throughout, with the Russian committing a high amount of unforced errors due in part to the powerful groundstrokes of her opponent.
The unforced error count (30-12) was clearly in Sharapova's favour, who also became the third woman in Australian Open history to fail to win a game in a set in the final.
Azarenka looked nervous in the opening game of the match, with two double faults gifting her opponent the break and Sharapova then held with ease to take an early 2-0 advantage.
That lead was quickly cancelled out when Azarenka broke to love in the fourth game to make it 2-2 as Sharapova's vulnerability on serve became visible.
Sharapova did manage to hold in the sixth game, but was broken once again in the eighth as Azarenka powered ahead 5-3 to be serving for the set.
A pair of errors from Sharapova's racquet - taking her tally for the first set to 15 - allowed Azarenka a simple hold and the opening set was done and dusted in 46 minutes.
The unforced error count for Sharapova continued to climb in the opening game of the second set, but it was a big forehand passing shot by Azarenka that gave the Belarusian the early break and she consolidated that in the ensuing game to open up a 2-0 lead.
Consecutive mistakes on the backhand side by Sharapova allowed Azarenka to break again to make it 3-0 in the second set and the 22-year-old could see the finish line.
Sharapova tried valiantly to fight back, but she dropped her serve once again in the fifth game and all of a sudden Azarenka was serving for the Championship.
A lucky net-cord in Sharapova's favour delayed the inevitable, albeit briefly, as the Russian hit a backhand into the net shortly after to give a shocked Azarenka the title.