Melbourne Park, 16 December 2011 | Matt Trollope

Destanee Aiava and Chase Ferguson have been crowned Optus 12s Australian champions after both produced wonderful displays of tennis to win their finals in straight sets.

On Court 7, Aiava came up against powerful No.15 seed Petra Hule, and despite the tall South Australian troubling the third seed at times with her hard, flat and deep groundstrokes, Aiava simply had the answers to complete a 6-1 6-1 win.

Having high expectations of herself, Aiava said she didn’t play as well as she wanted, but overall said she was happy and excited to take the trophy.

“I played alright, I was attacking some of the points, and it was a little bit better than yesterday’s match as well,” she said.

Aiava got off to a good start by clinching a marathon opening game, and broke serve for a 3-1 lead with a big crosscourt forehand winner that Hule couldn’t control.

Consolidating the break, Aiava looked set to run away with the set when she moved ahead 0-40 in the sixth game. But Hule responded positively, forcing an error with a raking groundstroke that skidded off the baseline and then smacked two winners to level at deuce.

Then it was Aiava’s turn to crank up the pace – she struck backhand and forehand winners to gain a 5-1 lead, and closed out the opening set in the next game.

The No.3 seed took her good form into the second set, snaring two service breaks on her way to a 3-0 lead.

Yet Hule refused to give up, breaking back for 3-1 and pumping herself up in the fifth game. But despite troubling Aiava, a backhand error proved costly for the No.15 seed, and she surrendered her serve again when a backhand flew long.

Displaying superior consistency in relentlessly hitting out from the baseline, Aiava soon wrapped up the match. She said, of everyone watching, her dad would be the most proud.

“This is the first time he’s watched me in a couple of months,” she said.

The championship win is another step along Aiava’s path to achieve her goal of becoming world No.1.

Over on Court 6, Ferguson was doing battle with fourth seed Nathanael Consalvo, and the pair produced a high-quality match in the opening set.

Ferguson scored the first service break of the match to lead 2-0, but Consalvo wasted no time in getting himself on the board, striking a powerful backhand winner in the following game to hold serve.

Although Consalvo’s power was able to keep him in contention, third seed Ferguson did enough to maintain his advantage, and scored another break on his way to securing the first set.

“I think when he got the chance to keep me back in the court and he came up forward to dictate, that troubled me [a little bit] during the match,” Ferguson reflected.

“[But] I think I was definitely more consistent, and just at some stages I was more aggressive.”

That was evident in the second set as the Victorian pulled away from Consalvo, breaking serve on his way to a 4-1 lead. The No.4 seed continued to fight but it was not enough, and soon Ferguson was serving for the title.

What ensued was the most entertaining game of the match. Ferguson reached two match points after a Consalvo error, only for the Queenslander to literally attack his way out of trouble, producing stunning winners at net, off the forehand and with his return to gain the advantage.

But Ferguson remained positive, returning scores to deuce and then bringing up his third match point after playing a sliding, sliced forehand that hit the net tape and stopped dead on Consalvo’s side.

The third seed completed a 6-3 6-1 win on the next point when Consalvo sent his return long.

“It feels really good, [I’m] honoured and just really happy [to win the title],” Ferguson said.

“I thought I moved really well again [and] I struck the ball cleanly.”

He said he would take a break after this event – which will include a holiday to China – before returning to Australia to contest the Mildura nationals.