Victoria Azarenka gets her first shot at Grand Slam glory when she takes on former champion Maria Sharapova in the Australian Open final on Saturday night.
Despite finishing each of the last three years ranked in the top 10, 22-year-old Azarenka has never made a major final with her best result being a semi-final appearance at Wimbledon last year.
Beaten in the final of the year end WTA Championships last year, Azarenka headed to Australia primed for a big assault on the Australian Open.
She won her first tournament of the year in Sydney with tough three-set victories over Agnieszka Radwanska in the semis and defending champion Li Na in the final the highlights.
Seeded three at Melbourne Park, Azarenka didn't drop a set en route to the quarter-finals where she fought back from a set down to defeat Radwanska in a see-sawing battle.
A superb victory over defending champion Kim Clijsters in the semi-finals means she has now posted 11 wins in a row to start 2012.
Sharapova had a different lead-up to the year's first Grand Slam with an ankle injury forcing her out of the Brisbane International.
But the Russian showed no signs of injury in her opening rounds, conceding just five games on her way to the fourth round.
A tough three-set victory over 14th seed Sabine Lisicki in the Round of 16 was followed by a straight sets triumph over compatriot Ekaterina Makarova.
Her gritty win over second seed Petra Kvitova in the semi-finals was what champions are made of with Sharapova fighting off a multitude of break points in the final set before posting an epic 6-2 3-6 6-4 victory.
Although she is only two years older than Azarenka, Sharapova will be making her sixth appearance in a Grand Slam final and third here at Melbourne Park.
Plenty has been made about this being the loudest final in history, but other than the fans getting annoyed that has no bearing on the outcome of the clash.
It will be seventh meeting between the two with each winning three times, but interestingly Azarenka has won the only two finals, which were both on hardcourt.
Of course Grand Slams are a whole different ball game and nerves could be a factor for Azarenka, but she does have nine titles to her name and doesn't seem bothered by the big occasion.
Adding extra spice to the clash if that the winner will also be guaranteed the No.1 ranking. For Sharapova it will be her fifth time at the top and first time since June 2008, while for Azarenka it will be a career-first.
Picking a winner is a tough task with both players matching up almost identically. They both love to slug it out from the baseline and it could come down to who makes less unforced errors.
Azarenka just has the edge in terms of power and consistency and as long as she doesn't tense up when trying to closing out the match, I expect her to clinch her first Grand Slam title.
Following the women's singles final, top seeded American twins Bob and Mike Bryan take on the unseeded pairing of Indian Leander Paes and Czech Radek Stepanek in the men's doubles final.
Earlier in the day the future stars take centre stage with Russian Yulia Putintseva up against American Taylor Townsend in the girls' final, followed by local Luke Saville and Canadian Filip Peliwo in the boys' final.