Noisy Azarenka achieves summit in a moment of quiet

Tuesday, 31 January 2012 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

MELBOURNE (Reuters): Victoria Azarenka was never going to get to the top of the world rankings quietly – that was an impossibility when every shot is met with an almighty grunt approaching 90 decibels as she tries to knock the fuzz off the ball.

Her brutal game, bred in Minsk and nurtured on the courts in Arizona, finally led to her first grand slam title on Saturday when she overpowered Maria Sharapova 6-3 6-0 to win the Australian Open.

It also ensured that when the WTA rankings are updated on Monday, she will be the new world number one.

“It’s a dream come true,” the 22-year-old Belarusian told reporters as the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup sat in front of her.

“I have been dreaming and working so hard to win the grand slam, and being number one is a pretty good bonus for that.”

The victory at Melbourne Park had been a long time coming and fulfilled the promise that had been evident when she won the Australian and U.S. Open junior titles in 2005.

Azarenka, however, did not win her first WTA tour title until the Brisbane International in 2009 and then had numerous near misses at grand slams, something she said had helped her.

“It took a lot of hard work...took me a little while to go through a few hurdles, like loss in the semi-final, which was great experience, a few losses in the quarter-finals,” she said.

“(But) I don’t want to look at...how long it took me to come. It’s here (and) I’m trying to live the moment.”

Azarenka had acknowledged she had been prone to “meltdowns” and was considered a “mental case” in the past and said she had learned to tone down her emotions a little but they were also part of her makeup.

On Saturday, however, there was none of the swearing or temper tantrums that had turned crowds against her.

Only once, when she was within sight of the victory, did she question umpire Kerrilyn Cramer about a line call. She got a clarification and smiled as she turned to face down the Russian.

At the end there were no yelps of exhilaration, just a dropping of her racquet and a slow-motion, almost exaggerated sinking to her knees as the crowd roared their appreciation.

“Right after the win I couldn’t understand what’s happening, and I could not believe the tournament is over,” she added of her subdued celebrations.

“And right now it still hasn’t hit me that it’s over and I won this. I keep enjoying it.”