Australian Open 2012: Victoria Azarenka's Success Will Be Short-Lived

22-year-old Victoria Azarenka steamrolled her way to the Australian Open 2012 title in Melbourne, becoming the No. 1-ranked women's tennis player in the world in the process. However, that success will be short-lived.

Azarenka was impressive during her run over the past two weeks, topping previous tourney champs Kim Clijsters and Maria Sharapova in the final two rounds to take home her first career Grand Slam. But somehow her competition seemed underwhelming.

The women's field was not as deadly as it has been in recent years and American superstar Serena Williams was not herself. The five-time Aussie Open champion could have posed a legitimate threat to Azarenka if she had not been so distracted coming into the tournament. Williams fell in the fourth round. 

Not to mention that the previous world No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki, was hardly worthy of the top spot. She has yet to win a major and has always come up short in the biggest matches at the biggest events. Wozniacki bowed out to Clijsters in the quarterfinals.

Now the pressure is on Azarenka. The young Belarusian has never dealt with the heat of the top spot and the plethora of attention that comes with it. Before the Australian Open, Azarenka had never made it to the final of a Grand Slam, only the semifinals at Wimbledon last summer.

Although she turned pro nine years ago, her experience on tennis' mightiest of stages is still limited. Azarenka is 21-6 in matches at the Aussie Open for her career, while she is just a combined 38-18 at the remaining three Slam events. That being the case, she will have a tough time hanging on to her top ranking the rest of the year.

The pressure will certainly return in Paris later this season when she takes on the world's best once again in the French Open, where she has never made it past the quarterfinal stage in six tries.

Then again, there is nothing to be ashamed of if she cannot retain the No. 1 ranking. Wozniacki held the top spot for 67 weeks and she did so without ever having won a Grand Slam. Also consider that all four major events were won by different players in 2011.

Kim Clijsters topped Li Na Down Under in 2011. Then Li Na took the French Open, Petra Kvitova shocked Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon and Samantha Stosur upset Serena Williams at the U.S. Open.

Women's tennis is up for grabs at the moment and that does not bode well for Azarenka and her No. 1 ranking.