Victoria Azarenka serves during her women's singles final against Maria Sharapova on Rod Laver Arena.
Ben Solomon/Tennis Australia
A few seconds after she won the 2012 Australian Open, Victoria Azarenka did not know where she was, holding her hands up in the air and signaling to ask her team exactly what just happened.
What occurred was one of the most impressive performances by a young player in a final in tournament history, as the 22-year-old belted three-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova 6-3 6-0 to win her first Grand Slam and seize the No 1 ranking.
There were no serious first Slam final nerves for the Belarusian, who after a shaky first two games turned on the jets, winning nine games on the trot in rapid fire fashion to end the match. While Sharapova struggled with her accuracy and game plan, Azarenka seemed to be confident in everything she did: she overmatched the Russian in backhand rallies, served efficiently, creamed Sharapova second serves, and moved much better.
Unlike her countrywoman Natasha Zvereva, who froze in the 1988 Roland Garros final against Steffi Graf and fell 6-0 6-0, Azarenka shook off her jitters.
“I was super nervous,’ she said. “I couldn't wait to actually go on the court and play. It was a long wait. I was like, 'Okay, I'm ready to go. When is it coming? What time is it?' I just think I really handled well the situation after that little slack in the beginning. I'm glad I could stay humble and just take it one at a time. Just keep fighting, keep fighting, and changing the momentum.”
Just like she had done in the last three times they had faced off, Azarenka showed that she could not only hang with the Russian from inside the baseline, but could out-stroke her. She matched her one big ball for the next and then fired in another. Azarenka broke the taller Sharapova five times in the match and didn’t have much trouble holding her own serve either.
“She did everything better than I did today,” Sharapova said. “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, trying to play catch-up all the time. She was, a step quicker. Her shot was bigger. Just not a good combination, I guess.”
Azarenka finished the match with 14 winners, only 12 unforced errors and forced Sharapova into 17 errors. The woman who was once criticised for being out of shape, injury prone and too temperamental for the big stage never wavered.
During the off season in 2009 she decided to switch coaches from Antonio Van Grichen (who is responsible for foundation of her hard hitting game ) to Sam Sumyk, the French coach of Vera Zvonareva and the husband of her manager, former American player Meilen Tu. She made that move despite finishing 2009 as the world’s No. 7 ranked player and at the time it was questioned.
It took a while for the partnership to click but once they developed enough trust , her game began to pick up. But there were starts and stops.
“It was a big change after Antonio,” Azarenka said. “Sam is completely different coach with completely different approach and mentality. I had really great partnership with Antonio, too. Sam, I feel like he was not pushing me guiding me towards that mental approach, to that winning attitude. He helped me to find my way, not pushing his way . So I think I owe him a lot for that, for educating me. I think it's important, especially for the young players, to have that education. That you have to learn how to do it yourself, because in the end of the day you're the one who's holding the racquet. Nobody else is going to do that for you.”
After a lousy tournament in Doha last March, Azarenka went home to Belarus and told her mother and grandmother that she was ready to pack it in and become a student. Her Grandmother said: ‘Go for it.’
"She was telling me those stories, how hard she was working," Azarenka said. "It was like, Well, you just have to shut up and stop complaining because you have a pretty damn good life. Just work out there."
That she did and quickly got to work, winning Miami, Marbella and a few months later she reached her first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon and finished the year at a career high No. 3.
That’s how she entered 2012 and she came out firing, winning the Sydney title over defending champion Li Na and then in Melbourne, dropping only 12 games in her first four matches and then posting a roaring three-set victory over her friend, eight seed Agnieszka Radwanska, and a gutsy three set barnburner over defending champion Kim Clijsters in the semis.
By ranking, she came into the final as the favourite over No. 4 Sharapova, but the Russian had looked very impressive in knocking out Kvitova in the semifinals and it was assumed by some that her experience might pull her through. That thought was dead wrong and 30 unforced errors and a relentless Azarenka proved too much for her.
Sharapova has gutted out plenty of matches at a B-level, but that wasn’t going to happen against an in-form Azarenka.
“It's tough to not play on a high level when your opponent is playing on a high level,” Sharapova said. “The ratio there is not very good. She's a top player. She's had a fantastic tournament. She won the event before this, so she's playing with a lot of confidence, as well. I think that really showed.”
After she went through a series of interviews the new Australian Open champion was planning on taking a champagne shower. She likes to dance, and is not shy about acting her age and partying once in a while. Perhaps most importantly, over the past two years, the once sullen and mistrustful Azarenka has let her intriguing personality show. By opening up off court, her game began to flourish, too.
“I think with my team, my agent, really helped me to just open up a little,” she said. “Because some people judge you by how you are on the court. Some people judge you by a certain thing you do, which obviously can be a mistake sometimes. I'm a different person when I'm off the court. It just helped me to figure out that it's important to be yourself. That's the most important thing. You don't try to pretend that you are somebody who you're not. I'm always looking to be honest, to know what I feel, because there is no point to really hide that. If you're open, if you can admit your feelings, you can admit what you've done wrong, what you did right, it's easier to move on.”