Sunday, January 29, 2012

Azarenka is a Major Champion, Djokovic Defends His Title

One Australian Open final proved to be an epic, taking nearly 6 hours to complete, while the other didn't reach 90 minutes and included a bagel set.  One champion emerged to win his fourth major in twelve months, while the other claimed her maiden major title.

Novak Djokovic def. Rafael Nadal 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-7(5) 7-5 in 5:53
Victoria Azarenka def. Maria Sharapova 6-3 6-0 in 1:22

-Djokovic wins his 29th career title, and his 5th major.
-His 3 Aussie Open crowns places him only behind Federer and Agassi (4).
-It is his 3rd consecutive major, only Laver, Sampras, Federer, and Nadal have done this is the open era.
-It is his 7th consecutive victory over Nadal, bringing their head-to-head to 16-14 Nadal.
-It is the longest major final ever.

-Azarenka wins her 10th career title (2nd of 2012), and her 1st major.
-She becomes the 21st world no. 1, after Wozniacki held that title for 67 of the last 68 weeks.
-This is the 4th consecutive major where the winner won her 1st major.
-The last 5 majors have been won by 5 different women.  Last occurred '07 US Open - '08 US Open (Henin, Sharapova, Ivanovic, Venus, Serena)
-The last 8 majors have been won by 7 different women.  Last occurred '04 Wimbledon - '06 French Open (Sharapova, Kuznetsova, Serena, Henin, Venus, Clijsters, Mauresmo, Henin and actually add Myskina '04 French Open for 8 of 9)

The Djokovic era continues, the Azarenka era begins!

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