Maria Sharapova beat Venus Williams 6-4 6-3 Thursday and will play in the Nasdaq-100 Open final on Saturday. After easily winning the first set, Sharapova kept playing strong in the second set, breaking Williams to go 2-0 up and she remained ahead until she served for match at 5-3. Only then did the Russian begin to show any signs of self-doubt. In a long and dramatic ninth game, Sharapova was forced to save her first breakpoints of the match as Williams fought to stay in the tournament.
Eventually, after an hour and twenty minutes, Sharapova watched Williams's final shot sail long on her third match-point and fell to her knees in relief and triumph. "I think we both of fought to the end," said Sharapova. "So many points were so big. I'm a big competitor and I love to fight. Everyone is hungry and everyone wants to beat me so I know that I have to be that way if I want to win."
The 17-year-old Russian will play Kim Clijsters in Saturday's final. A Victory over the Belgian would take Sharapova to number two in the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment