Victoria Azarenka

Victoria Azarenka

After having a champagne shower, little sleep, and lots of congratulatory messages, including an email from Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, Azarenka was due to fly out of Melbourne late last night bound for Los Angeles and then Boston.
She has put aside celebrations of her maiden grand slam win to travel halfway round the world so she can play for Belarus against the US in Fed Cup at Worcester, Massachusetts.
Waiting for her will be Serena Williams, still smiting at being knocked out of the Australian Open's fourth round, and Venus Williams, still waiting to play her first match for 2012 after an immune illness rubbed her out of Melbourne calculations.
"It will be fun. I love playing against Serena. I think she's a great champion. We've had a lot of good matches together. I'm up for anything," Azarenka said. "It's cool. But I want to enjoy these couple of days before I get there. I'll think about it when the time comes and I'll be ready."
Serena Williams has not played Fed Cup since 2008. Her return signals her desire to play for the US at the Olympics, where Fed Cup participation is required along with a top-60 world ranking.
She is also a five-time Australian Open winner and will be licking her lips at the prospect of facing the newly minted Open champion. Azarenka is the 21st different women's champion since the Open era (1968) and coincidently she's the 21st different world No 1 since the WTA computer rankings began in 1975.
The double coming-of-age couldn't be more deserved. The 22-year-old may have an ear-piercing scream but she also has a heart of gold. She has financed the building of a country house outside her home town of Minsk, the Belarusian capital, as a 25th wedding present for her parents Fodor and Alla. Her 73-year-old grandmother is moving in too.
"It's got a little garden so my grandmother can do her stuff in there," said Azarenka, who credits her family for giving her the work ethic to succeed.
Azarenka cracked the $10 million mark in prizemoney with the $2.3m cheque for beating Sharapova on Saturday night. Not only did it become her 10th career WTA singles title, it puts Belarus in the record books.
The last woman from Belarus (at that time part of the USSR) to play in a grand slam final was Natasha Zvereva, who lost to Steffi Graf in the 1988 French Open.
Max "the Beast" Mirnyi has won eight doubles titles in grand slams, including the 2007 US Open with Azarenka. But no Belarusian had lifted a major singles trophy until now.
"Emotions are too much, I can't really relax yet," Azarenka said yesterday reflecting on her 82-minute 6-3 6-0 win over a six-time finalist in Sharapova. The tall Russian, whose parents were raised in Belarus, has three grand slam trophies and told Azarenka to cherish her prize.
"I am very hungry. I want to be better and better every day I step on to the court, or do work in the gym," Azarenka, now on a 12-match winning streak, said.
"I think people have much more motivation to beat me. But that's really exciting to go on court and have someone on the other side who really, really wants to beat you. I'll enjoy that challenge so much. I enjoy the battles, enjoy the moments.
"We get the chance to be somebody we want to be. Some people never get the chance. I've been building my mountain, climbing, rock by rock. It doesn't matter how I got here really, I've enjoyed the whole journey."

Victoria Azarenka