Sharapova, Azarenka clash for title, No.1

Three-time grand slam champion Maria Sharapova takes on debut finalist Victoria Azarenka today in a high-stakes battle for the Australian Open title and the top ranking.

Sharapova won Wimbledon as a 17-year-old in 2004, captured the US Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008 but a nine-month injury lay-off with shoulder problems starting later that year saw her tumble down the rankings.

The former world number one reached the semi-finals at last year’s French Open and the final at Wimbledon as she continued her rise back to the top of the game.

Now she has the chance once again to top the rankings, with the winner of the final guaranteed to replace Caroline Wozniacki as number one.

Azarenka, by contrast, has little pedigree at the sharp end of grand slam tournaments, with her best performance coming at last year’s Wimbledon, where she reached the semi-finals.

But Sharapova, 24, said experience was not everything as last year’s Wimbledon final showed when she lost out to Petra Kvitova.

“I played Petra in her first grand slam final,” the Russian said.

“She played really high quality tennis out there on the grass, and she went out there and it didn’t really affect her.”

The two finalists have played six times before with three wins each.