Victoria Azarenka emerged victorious in the biggest final of her career to win the prestigious Sony Ericsson Open, winning 6-3, 6-1 in just 72 minutes, and that too against world's finest player at the moment, Serena Williams. With the victory, the Belarussian now moves to number eight in the Sony Ericsson WTA singles rankings, her best ever.

The start of the match brought surprise on a lot of faces when Serena Willaims appeared on court with one of her thighs heavily strapped. From that moment onwards, it became quite clear as to what is actually going to be the determining factor in the final result of the match. Serena got broken in the third game of the match, however she regrouped herself and broke Azarenka back to level the set. In the seventh game of the first set, Azarenka broke Serena's serve again with the help of thumping groundstrokes kissing the lines and wrapped up the set after pocketing the next two games easily.

The second set saw Serena struggle with her injury even more as she barely managed to put the ball back into play. Azarenka raced to a 5-1 lead and after several championship points, screamed in ecstasy and victorious elation, winning the 2009 Sony Ericsson Open, her first triumph at a premier event. Azarenka added the Miami title to two more wins this year in Memphis and Brisbane.

Afterwards, Azarenka congratulated Serena on her tremendous effort, whereas Williams, not looking for any excuses, was gracious in her defeat. "Who am i to make an excuse about the injury?" was her reply when asked about the deciding factor in the match by tournament's trophy presentation co-ordinator Mary Joe Fernandez. "She had an amazing two weeks in Miami and she deserved to win," Williams added.

The victory gives Azarenka a hefty winner's check of US$ 590,000, whereas Serena pockets US$ 295,675 for her mighty effort. The appearance in the final ensures that Serena Williams stays on top when the latest Sony Ercisson WTA tour rankings are released on Monday.