by Lisa-Marie Burrows
Victoria Azarenka was calm personified in her debut Grand Slam final against Maria Sharapova. If she was nervous about appearing in her first major final, she did not show it as she blasted past the Russian 6-3, 6-0 in front of a stunned Rod Laver Arena crowd.
Sharapova had the wealth of experience behind her as she went into the final a three-timemajor winner, winning her first title when she was only 17 years old on the grass courts of Wimbledon. Yet it was the No. 3 seed Azarenka who was poised, cool and brimming with confidence.
Azarenka had beaten Sharapova on three out of six occasions, so she had the game and capability to beat her, but more importantly, she knew how to beat her. She had a plan and she stuck with it. Point after point, the 22 year old pulled Sharapova from side to side across the tennis court, keeping her rival on the run. Azarenka knew how important it was to keep the hard hitting Russian off balance, play aggressive and attack the net to shorten the points – and she did so beautifully. It was an on court lesson to all the other players on how to break down the Sharapova game effectively.
Azarenka was the boss on court and produced a fantastic performance with her consistently good serve and powerful groundstrokes. She started off slowly in the first set as she went down an early break 0-2, and then 0-30, but soon fought back to 2-2 as she used her excellent movement to retrieve impossible balls and dominated play from the baseline. She calmly served out the first set 6-3, pumping her fist as Sharapova’s return of serve on set point went into the net.
The start of the second set did not see Maria Sharapova get off to a good start or change up her on court tactics to secure the second set and as a result, she was swiftly broken in her opening service game. There was no holding Azarenka back as the momentum of the game was firmly in her hands. All thoughts of lifting the trophy were clearly at the back of her mind, as her focus remained impeccable.
She went on to take the next five games and her tough mentality did not waver as she fiercely served for the championship without letting her nerves get the better of her. In a powerful and mature performance Victoria Azarenka eventually dropped to her knees in shock as she achieved what she had always dreamed of – a major title
In an outstanding match performance lasting 82-minutes, not only was the Belarusian crowned the Australian Open champion, she has also taken the world No. 1 ranking from Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki and achieved this amazing feat against one of the best competitors in the game.