Australian Open 2012: Victoria Azarenka Is Ready to Be Face of Women's Tennis

Women's tennis just found the dominant figure it has been lacking in recent years as Victoria Azarenka put the first stamp on what is going to be a tremendous year.

The 22-year-old Belarusian won her first major with a victory over Maria Sharapova in the Australian Open.

The win made her the fifth different winner in the past five Grand Slam events. It also made her the first No. 1 player not named Caroline Wozniacki in two years. 

While Wozniacki held the No. 1 spot for a considerable amount of time, she was far from the dominant figure in the sport. Wozi is still in search of her first major. 

This culture of parity is not lost on Azarenka. Here she is following her win as quoted by Margie McDonald of The Australian:

"

Petra (Kvitova) is a great player, Maria playing really well now, you know, Serena (Williams) is back, Kim (Clijsters), I think it's great for the women's tennis.

With Li Na winning a grand slam (French Open), Sam Stosur winning a grand slam (US Open), I think it's a great competition, and we can really look forward to the women's game. It's at a great level right now.

"

The Year of Azarenka

Victoria has shown a steady incline of improvement since turning pro. She is now at the peak of her capabilities, and when she is playing her best no one is good enough to beat her.

This much was clear in her run to the title. She had a bad set in an otherwise dominant match against defending champ Kim Clijsters, as she won 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.

She then played even better in the finals as she took down Sharapova 6-3, 6-0. 

In this run, she proved—unlike the past four major winners—that she is the real deal. Azarenka is a well-rounded player with no major holes in her game. 

She has a solid serve and forehand combined with an absolutely dominant backhand. 

Her one real weakness entering this match was that she had a tendency to lose the battle with her nerves. She is player that often times let her emotions get the best of her, and this led to crippling errors at inopportune times. 

Now that she has her first major under her belt, she has shown she is learning to deal with those nerves, and this battle is only going to be easier now that she has that monkey off of her back. 

Azarenka is ready to dominate the women's ranks, and that is exactly what she is going to do.