To paraphrase from Eleanor Roosevelt: A woman is like a tea bag. She needs to be in hot water before you find out how strong she is.

As far as tennis goes, dropping your serve in the opening game of a Grand Slam final might be considered getting yourself in hot water. Victoria Azarenka found herself in that situation just minutes into her match against Maria Sharapova. Sharapova had started strongly, confidently. How was she to know that Azarenka would respond as she did?

The Belarusian responded by winning 12 of the next 13 games, racing away to her maiden Grand Slam win. The mental toughness test was passed with the highest flying colours. If she was a tea bag, the water would be opaque.

She completely overpowered the 2008 Australian Open winner, sending her to all corners of Rod Laver Arena. Sharapova was reduced to scampering returns and defensive lobs, increasingly discouraged as game after game fell Azarenka's way. The new world number one took it as an invitation to land the killer blow.

In her victory speech, Azarenka saved a special thankyou her drivers, whom she had rewarded over the fortnight by handing out donuts. She handed out another one tonight. It was much less appreciated.

There isn't an area of Azarenka's game that you'd call a weakness. Her serve is probably the least damaging part of her game, but that is a common problem in women's tennis. If she can maximise the percentage of first serves she puts in, and lets the rest of her game take control, she has every chance of adding to her Grand Slam collection before next year.

Her overall tournament here was nothing short of brilliant, starting with two thumping wins in which she conceded just two games. From there, she took care of Mona Barthel and Iveta Benesova without drama.

She was finally challenged in the quarterfinals, when Agnieszka Radwanska took the first set off her in a tie-break. But as was confirmed tonight, a challenge only makes Azarenka work harder. She regrouped, remained focussed, and roared through the second and third sets, dropped just two further games.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Sharapova. Not for the first time this tournament, she dropped a set from a strong position. Against Sabine Lisicki, she had been 3-0 up in the first set, before dropping the next six games. Her meek response to having her serve broken is worrying.

So, women's tennis has a new number one. Azarenka can now look forward to being the benchmark against which all rivals will compare themselves. They will study her game and try to pinpoint a weakness. If they're lucky, they might even exploit it for an early lead.

But they'll have a devil of a time trying to retain it.