Azarenka confirmed as new number one
January 30, 2012 12:31:35 UK
Victoria Azarenka has been confirmed as the new world number one after beating Maria Sharapova in the Australian Open final.
The 22-year-old Belarusian replaces Caroline Wozniacki at the top of the rankings and said: "I couldn't be happier. I've been loving coming to Australia since I was a junior and I've had an amazing month and this is a dream come true."
Stacey Allaster, chairman of the WTA, added: "Congratulations to Victoria on reaching the pinnacle of her career and becoming WTA's newest world number one.
"It has been great to watch Vika grow as a player over the last few years and I am thrilled that she has achieved this milestone at such a young age."
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Last year's Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova remains second after reaching the semi-finals in Melbourne while Sharapova is third with Wozniacki slipping to fourth.
Britons Elena Baltacha (57), Anne Keothavong (88) and Heather Watson (106) all lost in the first round of this month's Australian Open while Laura Robson climbs to a career-high of 118th.
The next Grand Slam is the French Open and Azarenka can be backed at 4.50 to win it. Wozniacki is available at 26.00 to emerge victorious at Roland Garros while Kvitova is 10.00 and Sharapova 7.00.
The top four of the men's rankings remain the same with Novak Djokovic still leading the way after successfully defending his Australian Open title.
Beaten finalist Rafael Nadal is second while Roger Federer is third and Andy Murray fourth.
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