Australian Open Finals Match-Ups

WOMEN'S

(3) Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) vs (4) Maria Sharapova (Russia)

Photo Credit: chadanielle.wordpress.com

There's more at stake than just the Australian Open title in this matchup as the winner will also take over the WTA #1 ranking. While Sharapova has been there before, Azarenka has never been ranked higher than third. This will be the Belarusian's first Grand Slam singles final, although she has played in three Slam doubles finals. Sharapova, on the other hand, is playing in her 6th Grand Slam Final, but is looking for her first win since the 2008 Australian Open. The two women have faced each other 6 times in their careers with each one winning 3.

How they got here:

Azarenka

1st - Heather Watson (Great Britain) - 6-1, 6-0
2nd - Casey Dellacqua (Australia) - 6-1, 6-0
3rd - Mona Barthel (Germany) - 6-2, 6-4
4th - Iveta Benesova (Czech Rep.) - 6-2, 6-2
QF - (8) Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) - 6-7, 6-0, 6-2
SF - (11) Kim Clijsters (Belgium) - 6-4, 1-6, 6-3

Sharapova

1st - Gisela Dulko (Argentina) - 6-0, 6-1
2nd - Jamie Hampton (USA) - 6-0, 6-1
3rd - (30) Angelique Kerber (Germany) - 6-1, 6-2
4th - (14) Sabine Lisicki (Germany) - 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
QF - Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) - 6-2, 6-3
SF - (2) Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) - 6-2, 3-6, 6-4

MEN'S

(1) Novak Djokovic (Serbia) vs (2) Rafael Nadal (Spain)

Photo Credit: tennis.fm

The two top men's players in the world will face off for the 30th time in the Australian Open Final. While Nadal owns a 16-13 edge in the series, Djokovic was unbeaten in their 6 matches in 2011 including the Wimbledon and U.S. Open Finals. Nadal has won 10 Grand Slam singles titles in his career, but has only won the Australian Open once, back in 2009. An 11th title will tie Nadal with Björn Borg and Rod Laver for the 4th most all time trailing only Roger Federer (16), Pete Sampras (14) and Roy Emerson (12). Djokovic, meanwhile, will be looking to be the first male to successfully defend his Australian Open title since Roger Federer won in back to back years in 2006 and 2007. Djokovic won 3 of the 4 slams last year and is looking to start 2012 in a similar fashion.

How they got here:

Nadal

1st - Alex Kuznetsov (USA) - 6-4, 6-1, 6-1
2nd - Tommy Haas (Germany) - 6-4, 6-3, 6-4
3rd - Lukas Lacko (Slovakia) - 6-2, 6-4, 6-2
4th - (18) Feliciano Lopez (Spain) - 6-4, 6-4, 6-2
QF - (7) Tomas Berdych (Czech Rep.) - 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 6-3
SF - (3) Roger Federer (Switzerland) - 6-7, 6-2, 7-6, 6-4

Djokovic

1st - Paolo Lorenzi (Italy) - 6-2, 6-0, 6-0
2nd - Santiago Giraldo (Colombia) - 6-3, 6-2, 6-1
3rd - Nicolas Mahut (France) - 6-0, 6-1, 6-1
4th - Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) - 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
QF - (5) David Ferrer (Spain) - 6-4, 7-6, 6-1
SF - (4) Andy Murray (Great Britain) - 6-3, 3-6, 6-7, 6-1, 7-5