Victoria Azarenka won her first Grand Slam title and became the new world No. 1 when she thrashed a disappointing Maria Sharapova in the Australian Open final yesterday.
The third seeded Belarussian overpowered the 2008 champion to win 6-3, 6-0 in 82 minutes to lift the trophy and become the fourth women’s first-time Grand Slam winner in a row.
“I can’t wait to be back next year, I’ve had an amazing month in Australia. It’s a dream true,” Azarenka said.
Photo: EPA
Azarenka came from 0-2 down in the first set to win 12 of the next 13 games for a comprehensive victory, as Sharapova’s game disintegrated in the face of all-out aggression from the Belarussian.
Sharapova made 30 unforced errors, while Azarenka played almost flawlessly at times with only 12 errors across the two sets.
“As in any sport you have your good days you have your tough days and you have days where things just don’t work out. Today Victoria was just too good,” Sharapova said. “It all comes down to the last two athletes, winner takes it all after all the players in the draw. I’ve had great wins here and I’ve had tough losses, but there’s no doubt I’ll be back.”
Azarenka won the toss and chose to serve, but she started nervously and dished up two double faults on her way to dropping the first game.
Sharapova consolidated to open a 2-0 lead and got to 0-30 on Azarenka’s next game, but the Belarussian seemed to shake off her nerves and slowly took control.
She stepped up to the baseline and took the ball early, pressuring Sharapova into mistakes, and soon Azarenka was dominating in all departments, matching the Russian’s power from the baseline and volleying confidently.
The 22-year-old broke back in the fourth game and broke again in the eighth before confidently serving for the first set.
And Azarenka started the second set with the same self-belief, breaking Sharapova’s first serve and coming back from 15-40 to hold her own and open a 2-0 lead.
Sharapova was becoming increasingly frustrated and, unusually for the three-time Grand Slam winner, she began to look to her coach Thomas Hogstedt in frustration.
However, Azarenka was in full control and she broke Sharapova twice more to go to 5-0 lead.
The Belarussian stepped up to serve for the championship, saving a break point and falling to her knees in delight when a Sharapova backhand crashed into the net.
Azarenka, who won the girls’ singles crown in 2005, became only the third woman in the open era to win the junior and senior titles at the Australian Open after Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Chris O’Neil.
She is also the first Belarussian to win a Grand Slam title, going one better than Natasha Zvereva, who finished runner up at the French Open in 1998.
Sharapova has now been runner-up at two of the past three Grand Slams, after losing last year’s Wimbledon decider to Petra Kvitova.
The three-time Grand Slam winner had been attempting to win her first major title since coming back from major shoulder surgery in October, 2008.
Azarenka will be confirmed as world No. 1 in the new women’s rankings released next week, ending Caroline Wozniacki’s long stay at the top.
BOYS
Australian Open boys’ champion Luke Saville blamed “raw emotion” yesterday after he swore in his acceptance speech on center court.
The 17-year-old Australian beat Canada’s Filip Peliwo 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 on Rod Laver Arena to go one better than last year, when he was defeated in the final by Czech Jiri Vesely.
After being presented with the trophy by Australian great Ken Rosewall, the top seed told spectators that winning the final felt a “shitload” better than losing.
Saville, who hails from Cobdogla, a country town of just 232 people in South Australia, admitted later he should probably have chosen his words more carefully.
MEN
In the men’s final today, defending champion Novak Djokovic will take on Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic saw off brave Andy Murray in five thrilling sets on Friday to stay on course for his third straight major title.
In a marathon match of 4 hours, 50 minutes, nudging the tournament record, the Serbian top seed stormed back from a set down to win 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (4/7), 6-1, 7-5 and set up his meeting with Nadal.
Badminton world No. 3 Anders Antonsen clinched his first Indonesia Open title yesterday after beating Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen, while South Korea’s An Se-young won her second championship in Jakarta. The 28-year-old Dane sank world No. 7 Chou at the Indonesian capital’s Istora Senayan arena, winning 22-20, 21-14 in a 60-minute match to secure the prestigious Super 1000 event. Antonsen came out on top in a tightly contested first game before cruising to victory in the second. In a more closely fought women’s singles final, South Korean ace and world No. 1 An fought back from one game down to beat China’s
‘STILL’: In front of a packed New Jersey arena attended by Donald Trump and Mike Tyson, UFC 316 delivered high drama as Merab Dvalishvili retained his title Georgia’s Merab Dvalishvili scored a second-round submission win over Sean O’Malley to retain his bantamweight title at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 316 on Saturday, with Kayla Harrison also winning by submission in the co-main event, tapping out Juliana Pena to claim the women’s bantamweight crown. In front of a packed crowd at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, which included US President Donald Trump and retired heavyweight great Mike Tyson, Dvalishvili, a 34-year-old from the country of Georgia, won the belt in a convincing, although not aesthetically pleasing, unanimous decision. Dvalishvili (19-4) sat on top of the cage and shouted
Manchester City on Monday completed the signing of left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a reported ￡31 million (US$41.8 million). The 24-year-old Algeria international has signed a five-year contract and will be available for the FIFA Club World Cup, which begins later this week. Ait-Nouri is expected to be just one of a trio of new City faces for that tournament with deals close to completion for AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders and Olympique Lyonnais playmaker Rayan Cherki. After missing out on a major trophy in the recently completed season for the first time since 2016-2017, City are hoping
Hulking Italian sprinter Jonathan Milan on Monday surged away from the pack to win the second stage of the Criterium de Dauphine in Issoire, France, to take the overall lead from Tadej Pogacar. The 1.93m, 87kg Milan had to battle to keep up on a hilly 204.6km run through central France from Premilhat. When the pack hit the home straight, he rocketed away from his rivals to collect a 10-second victory bonus and the yellow jersey. “That was really tough,” Milan said. “I was dropped at one point, and I was really on the limit, but I have to say
RSS