Azarenka 'unfazed' by Serena 'juggernaut' ahead of Australian Open title defence

Defending Australian Open's women champion Victoria Azarenka is reportedly unfazed by speculation that her defence of the title will falter in the face of the Serena Williams 'juggernaut'.

Last year, Williams entered the Open having won the previous two Grand Slam events - Wimbledon and the US Open - as well as Olympic gold and the WTA Tour Championships.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, although Azarenka who mounted a successful defence of what had until then been her sole Grand Slam crown, but Williams is again the hot favourite, having added two more majors last year, the French Open and Wimbledon, to take her career tally to 17 and regain the world No.1 ranking.

However, the Belarussian second seed said that she does not really care about the hype as she chases a hat-trick of Melbourne Park trophies, adding that for players, it is simply a matter of playing tennis and giving their best on the court.

Azarenka insisted that her confidence has not gone down despite the straight sets defeat Williams handed her in the recent Brisbane International final, which stretched the American's head-to-head advantage to 14-3, saying that Williams is not the sole player to beat at the first Grand Slam event of the year.

However, Azarenka also said that comparing Williams to her last season, everybody would be motivated to beat her.