Maria's shreik was louder, but victory was Victoria's.

And so it came to pass, that a winner would emerge from the battle royale between the "deci-belles" today, in Melbourne.

As this report in the Guardian puts it, Victoria Azarenka outclassed Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-0 to take her first tennis grand slam title and also the world No1 ranking.

Sharapova reportedly reached 105 decibels and Azarenka 95 decibels during the match. Here's the link to the Guardian's story:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jan/28/australian-open-2012-maria-sharapova?newsfeed=true

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Incidentally, in the run-up to today's showdown, one ST sport page (28 Jan, "The grunt meter", page C14) featured this comparison:

Maria Sharapova (24, Russia)

Seeded: 4

Grand slam titles: 4

Noise level: 105 decibels, which is as loud as an ambulance siren and only five decibels quieter than a lion's roar.

Her grunt has been described as:

* An angry parakeet

* A pneumatic drill

* A woman about to give birth to triplets

Victoria Azarenka (22, Belarus)

Seeded: 3

Grand slam titles: Her first final

Noise level: 95 decibels, but her grunt is longer, lasting an average 1.5 sec.

Her grunt has been described as:

* The mating call of a peacock

* A ghost haunting a house

* A pig giving birth