By Kamakshi Tandon

Serena Williams poses with the Australian Open women's singles trophy after defeating Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-2 in the final.             ©Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

At the beginning of the tournament, Williams had played just three matches in three months and looked entirely beatable after a scratchy first-round performance against Mara Santangelo. At the end, she looked almost unbeatable, defeating top seed Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-2 in 63 minutes to take her run at the event all the way to the title. It was her eighth Grand Slam singles win.

Sharapova, one of the tour's fiercest competitors, muttered a helpless 'too good' towards the end.

Williams had maintained throughout the event that she could win the title despite her inactivity and No. 81 ranking. But on Saturday, she admitted that even she was a little surprised to be holding the trophy. "There's always times out there where you think, you know, 'Am I ever going to be looking at another trophy?'" she said. "Especially since I hadn't won a tournament – let alone a Grand Slam – in a long time. You know, you're thinking about, 'Wow, will there be another time?'"

The importance of positive thinking has been a recurring theme for Williams the last two weeks, and it was reflected in her victory speech. She dedicated the win to her half-sister Yetunde, who was shot and killed in 2003. "I remember her always being so supportive and so funny, and I said to myself a couple of days ago that if I won this it would be for her," Williams told Australian television afterwards. She also singled out her father Richard. "My dad is always so positive. No matter how I'm doing, he always says, 'Serena, you're so great,' and that helps me so much"

Asked what gave her the most satisfaction about the win, Williams said, "I think I get the greatest satisfaction from holding up the Grand Slam trophy and proving everyone wrong... It was an awesome win because I had so many critics, so many people talking bad, saying I wasn't fit when I really felt fit."

Williams' mother, Oracene Price, accompanied her to Melbourne and was one of those who had expressed some doubts about her fitness. But it was Williams who owned up to a few negative exchanges in her victory speech. "I'd like to thank my mom. I was a bad student this fortnight. I yelled at her, said some things under my breath. But she just kept coming. I really appreciate it."

It's not like Williams hasn't pulled off unexpected Grand Slam victories before. Her first came at the 1999 U.S. Open, when she captured a major championship before her older and higher-ranked sister Venus. At the 2005 Australian Open, she staved off three match points against Sharapova in the semifinals and then rebounded from a 5-1 deficit in the third set against Lindsay Davenport to take the title. Both Venus and Serena have well-established reputations for going into tournaments with little preparation and finding their best form nevertheless.

But this win was her most improbable of all, and may ensure once and for all that Serena will never be counted out of a tournament again. Her ranking will rise to No. 14 next week. Sharapova, who saw the full extent of Williams' competitive intensity at Melbourne in 2005, said she had not discounted her opponent's ability to produce this kind of form. "You can never underestimate her as an opponent. Not many expected her in the final but I definitely did," Sharapova said in her post-match speech.

"I mean, she's won six matches here," she added afterwards. "There's no reason why she's not playing with confidence and she's not playing well. I mean, to be in a final of a Grand Slam and to beat the pretty tough players, that takes a lot of good tennis. So you have to expect it."

It's unlikely, however, that Sharapova expected to be so overwhelmed on Saturday. She will rise to No. 1 in the rankings next week, but the one-sided defeat will make it a hollow return to the top spot. Williams dominated from the start, going up 4-0 in 14 minutes and finishing the set with 15 winners. "Right from 'play,' I was driven," Williams said. "I just felt different than what I did at Wimbledon [when she lost in the final to Sharapova in 2004]. I just felt different. I felt like, I feel good. I'm happy. I'm confident. I'm not nervous.

"My game plan was to play my game and to stay relaxed. I think if I can do that, then – like I always say, if I'm playing good, it's hard for anyone."

Both players play first-strike tennis, trying to deliver the first punishing shot in a point. On Saturday, almost all the first strikes belonged to Williams. She won her own service games with ease, bludgeoning her deliveries while still maintaining a first-serve percentage of almost 80%. Returning aggressively and helped by Sharapova's low first-serve percentage of 50%, she broke four times during the match.

"We didn't really have a lot of long rallies," Sharapova said. "It was just about a good serve percentage -- which I definitely did not have, you know, [and] which I said was going to be important -- and the return. I thought she just served too good today."

It wasn't until 5-0 that Sharapova hit her first winner of the match – an overhead she aimed right at Williams' legs even though there were openings on both sides of the court.

Before the match, the Russian had downplayed the importance of getting a good start. "I think the finish is going to be a lot more important than the start, to be honest. I'd rather have a terrible start and win the match than have a great start and lose it."

But as she also added, "With any opponent... it's always important to let them know that you're there from the beginning of the match."

Reduced to a spectator for much of the first set, Sharapova found it difficult to establish herself in the second. "I was just trying to find, you know, a way or a little door opening that maybe I could get through," Sharapova said.

She found a small crack early but could not produce the level required to squeeze through. After breaking in the first game, Williams donated two double faults but held on for 2-0. She then won a tough battle on Sharapova's serve to go up 3-0 – the Russian lost the game by hitting a double fault and sending a relatively straightforward forehand into the net.

Sharapova did not give up – "I was just trying to tell myself, 'You can always find a way even if you're down a set and two breaks'" – but for all intents and purposes, it was the end.

Will it be the beginning of a new stage in Williams' career? She was vague about her tournament schedule but enthusiatic about trying to continue her success.

"I'm going to India, then Dubai, a couple tournaments after that. My schedule is not filled, but my schedule is very practical... My goal is to stick to it and just make it happen this year," she said. "I'm ready to start training on the clay already... I saw some things here I want to work on, I want to share with my dad.

"I'm ready to do that now, ready to take my game to a new level."