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January 28, 2012 — MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Victoria Azarenka beat Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-0 Saturday to win the Australian Open and take over the women's No. 1 ranking.

Azarenka, playing in her first final in 25 Grand Slam tournaments, was broken in the opening game of the match by Sharapova and trailed 2-0 before taking advantage of 16 unforced errors by Sharapova to win the first set in 46 minutes.

The 22-year-old Belarusian broke Sharapova's service to open the second set and never looked threatened as she clinched the title in 1 hour, 22 minutes. The winner of the match had the added bonus of taking over the top ranking vacated by Caroline Wozniacki when she lost in the quarterfinals.