Australian Open 2012: Title Will Mark Long Run at No. 1 for Victoria Azarenka

Caroline Wozniacki is a choke artist and she was just keeping the top spot warm for a true world's No. 1 player. When the top player in women's tennis can't win or even make it to a Grand Slam final, the top spot is just waiting to be taken over.

That is exactly what Victoria Azarenka did by winning the Australian Open. She leapfrogged both Petra Kvitova and Caroline Wozniacki into the top spot by defeating Maria Sharapova in the final. The Belarusian star will assume the world's top spot at the end of the month and her stay will be a lengthy one.

Wozniacki's confidence has to be at an all-time low, but Kvitova will be her rival moving forward. Kvitova actually holds the advantage over Azarenka in their head-to-head series. She has defeated Azarenka four out of six times they've faced each other. That includes four wins in a row.

Some may say that Azarenka caught a break by missing Kvitova in the draw, but I don't think so. Azarenka played with tremendous confidence that I had never seen from her before. The truest test to Azarenka's longevity as world No. 1 will come when she battles Wozniacki and Kvitova head-to-head.

She will answer the call. Previously, Wozniacki like Kvitova has enjoyed an edge over Azarenka, but this victory will signal a turning point in the career of Azarenka. It is very similar to the maturation Novak Djokovic has gone through on the men's side.

Azarenka has always had the talent, but she has now taken the next step. She said this about the uncharted territory:

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''It was a huge win over Kim, not only because it was a semi-final but just beating a great champion

''It really helped me a lot with the self-belief. You have to go through the tough matches to win the titles.

''Today was another learning experience for me because I have never been in that position and I did pretty well.''

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Azarenka used to meltdown in tough situations, as evidenced here, but those days are over:

From a confidence standpoint, she was different and when the talent levels are as close as is the case with Azarenka, Wozniacki and Kvitova, confidence is the deciding factor

The next WTA tournament is the Open GDF Suez tourney. It still remains to be seen whether Azarenka will play there. Right now, no one has a higher confidence level than Azarenka. She will be the women's top player for a while.

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