Victoria Azarenka defeated Maria Sharapova in the final, 6–3, 6–0 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2012 Australian Open. It was her first major title. Azarenka was the first Belarusian to win a singles major, and became the world No. 1 in doing so. Caroline Wozniacki, Petra Kvitová and Sharapova were also in contention for the top ranking.