A disappointed Maria Sharapova has defended the high unforced error count she made in her Australian Open final loss to Victoria Azarenka.
The Russian made 30 unforced errors in the 6-3 6-0 defeat to Azarenka, but believes she had to be aggressive to stand any chance of defeating the Belarusian.
Sharapova said she wanted to be the one dictating the play during the final, but she simply 'just made errors'.
"There was no way I was going to win the match if I was going to let her dictate and be the one that's aggressive," Sharapova said following her defeat.
"I felt like I wasn't being aggressive enough and I knew that I have to be and I knew that I had to change that."
"But I think maybe I just kind of overdid it."
In contrast, a more steady Azarenka hit just 12 unforced errors and continued to keep the ball in play and let her opponent make the mistakes.
"She (Azarenka) did everything better than I did today," Sharapova said.
"I had a good first couple of games and that was about it."
"Then she was the one that was taking the first ball and hitting it deep and aggressive."
"I was always the one running around like a rabbit and trying to play catch-up all the time."
Despite the loss, Sharapova was happy with how she performed at the tournament and is confident she can re-produce the same form during the remainder of the year.
"I am proud of the fact that I made it this far," she said.
"It's been a few years since I've been in the finals of the Australian Open so it's a good start to the year."
"I have a lot to look forward to this year."
But Sharapova knows she will have to continue to work hard on the practice court if she is going to be able to match it with the likes of Azarenka in the future.
"I believe that there's still a lot of work that I can do to improve," she said.
"That's why I'm still playing."