World No. 1 defending champion Victoria Azarenka proved narrowly that she is still No. 1 by downing No. 6 seed, Li Na 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 at the 2013 Australian Open.
Azarenka had to win to retain her No. 1 status. Either No. 2 Maria Sharapova or No. 3 Serena Williams could have taken over the No. 1 spot had they made it to the final instead of Azarenka. After the tournament, Serena Williams took over No. 2, while Sharapova dropped to No. 3.
Going into this match, 24 of the past 25 major finals had been won by the woman who won the first set, the exception being the 2011 final in Melbourne—in which Li took the opener against Kim Clijsters but went on to lose. This time, she lost, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, in what seemed an interminable two hours and 42 minutes, thanks partly to three major interruptions that ate up close to half an hour. One was a 10-plus minute break for an Australia Day fireworks display, the others a pair of injury timeouts taken by Li, each occasioned by a rolled ankle (the second resulted in Li banging the back of her head on the court as she took a spill).
