VICTORIA AZARENKA BEAT Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-0 Saturday to win the Australian Open and take over the women’s No. 1 ranking.
Azarenka, playing in her first final in 25 Grand Slam tournaments, was broken in the opening game of the match by Sharapova and trailed 2-0 before taking advantage of 16 unforced errors by Sharapova to win the first set in 46 minutes.
The 22-year-old Belarusian broke Sharapova’s service to open the second set and never looked threatened as she clinched the title in one hour, 22 minutes.
The winner of the match had the added bonus of taking over the top ranking vacated by Caroline Wozniacki when she lost in the quarter-finals.
