First-time winners proved to prevail at the 2014 Australian Open at Melbourne Park.

Stanislas Wawrinka, who entered the tournament as the eighth-ranked player in the world, and Li Na, who entered ranked fourth in the world, won the men's and women's singles titles, respectively.

Wawrinka had never taken a set against world number-one Rafael Nadal entering their match in the Australian Open finals on Sunday.

That made no difference to the 8th-ranked Wawrinka, who cruised past the top-ranked Nadal in the final, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, to earn his first Grand Slam title ever. In fact, Nadal nearly retired from the match due to a back injury during the second set, down 0-2, but he elected to continue playing through the pain. He took a medical time-out after dropping the third set and giving up a break-point in the fourth, but ultimately returned after a seven-minute delay to a round of booing from the crowd.

Nadal, seemingly rejuvenated from the injury delay, took the fourth set 6-3, but his fate seemed to already have been sealed on the day against a healthier foe.

Nadal failed to consistently recover his serve speed and Wawrinka triumphed with a fourth-set victory over the world's top player.

While Nadal's serve began at 87 miles per hour, it eventually fell to 70 miles per hour after his injury-before climbing back near the 90 mile per hour mark in the fourth-set.

However, Nadal was not the only obstacle for Wawrinka to overcome. The Swiss won his first major title after 36 career events, the second-longest drought to begin an individual's career.

Wawrinka squared off in the quarterfinals against second-ranked Novak Djokovic, to whom he had previously dropped a five-set classic in the 2013 semifinals.

The two again faced off at the 2013 United States Open. Djokovic prevailed again, topping Wawrinka in five sets.

Wawrinka entered his quarterfinal match against Djokovic with 14 consecutive losses to the world number-two, but this time came out victorious in five sets over his Serbian opponent.

Li, who took the title with a win over Dominika Cibulkova in two sets, became the oldest player to ever win the Australian Open. Na will turn 32 years old in just under one month.
After requiring a first-set tiebreaker, Li sped through the second set in just 27 minutes to take the final by a score of 7-6 (3), 6-0.

She also became the first Chinese tennis player to win the Australian Open after having twice lost in the finals match-losing to Kim Clijsters in 2011 and Victoria Azarenka last year.
Li was able to avoid most other top-ranked players, though, as upsets littered the tournament on the women's side of the draw. Na did not face a single competitor ranked above 15 during the tournament.

World number one Serena Williams dropped her fourth-round matchup to former world number-one Ana Ivanovic despite taking the first set. Fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska bounced second-seeded Azarenka from the tournament in the quarterfinals. Radwanska later fell in the semifinals to Cibulkova.

Third-ranked Maria Sharapova also fell in the fourth round, dropping her match to Cibulkova in three sets.

None of that mattered to Li, who cruised past Cibulkova in the finals en route to just her second major ever, and the first Australian Open title ever won by a female Chinese tennis player.

As the world's top tennis players look forward to the French Open in May, two players have solidified their place among the world's best at the Australian Open.