Tennis:Unseeded Serena Williams completed her Australian Open dream today with a 6-1 6-2 straight-sets victory over number one seed Maria Sharapova to win her eighth Grand Slam title.
Williams overwhelmed the Russian US Open Champion, who will regain the world number one place on Monday, and completed a remarkable comeback after her ranking slipped to 81 following a serious knee injury.
Williams will move up to 14 in the rankings next week after completing victory in just one hour and three minutes at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne to claim a third Australian Open title and become the first unseeded player to land the crown since Chris O'Neil in 1978.
"I would like to thank Maria for being a great sport and a great champion," said an emotional Williams.
"She has a great attitude. She has a few more years to go, maybe more than I do, she defiantly has a great future. She is always fighting to the last point, that's what I love to see."
Sharapova added: "You can never underestimate her as an opponent. I don't think many people expected her to be in the final, but I defiantly did. I knew what she was capable of and she defiantly showed that today. She is an amazing champion, she has shown it here many times.
"I look forward to playing her many more times and winning a few, I hope."