Serena Williams stunned the world of tennis as she picked up her eighth Grand Slam title and third Australian Open title with an overpowering display of near flawless tennis against the newly crowned world number 1 Maria Sharapova, winning 6-1 6-2 in just 63 minutes.

Williams whose ranking of 81 will improve to 14, had already disposed of four other seeded played en route; Nadia Petrova, Jelena Jankovic, Shahar Peer and Nicole Vaidisova, and was in top form from beginning to end as she swept aside the challenge of her Russian opponent.

She struck 28 winners to Sharapova's 11 including 7 aces, and made just 11 unforced errors. She broke serve on 4 out of 6 opportunities, and never relinquished her total dominance throughout the match.

Having reached triple championship point with the aid of two consecutive aces, Williams hammered a blistering backhand down the line for a clean winner and fell flat on her back in sheer delight.

"I just want to thank my God Jehovah for blessing me and allowing me to be here today", said the jubilant champion in her victory speech.

"Maria has a great attitude and she has a bright future; she is always fighting to the end which is what I like to see."

Having thanked her mother, entire entourage and absent sister Venus and father, Serena became emotional as she dedicated her title to her late sister Yetunde who was shot dead in 2003.

"I said to myself that if I were to win today, I would dedicate this title to my sister Yetunde who I love very, very much." 

For Sharapova who returns to the top of the rankings for the first time since she held that position for 7 weeks in August and September of 2005, the scars of this very public humiliation will be hard for her to overcome.

"You can never underestimate Serena. I know a lot of people were surprised by her run to the final, but I certainly wasn't; I know what she is capable of", Sharapova said. "She is an amazing champion; she has shown that many times in the past. I look forward to playing her many times in the future and hopefully winning a few."

Williams is the first unseeded player male or female to win a grand slam since Andre Agassi beat 5 seeded players to win the 1994 US Open. The last unseeded woman to win the Australian Open was Chris O'Neil back in 1978.