Sharapova lifts Australian Open

Russian fifth seed Maria Sharapova won the Australian Open final against fourth seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia 7-5, 6-3 on Saturday, claiming her third Grand Slam title.

Sharapova, a losing finalist here last year, adds the Australian title to the Wimbledon crown she won in 2004 and her 2006 US Open.

Ivanovic battled gamely but Sharapova's powerful serve ultimately proved the difference in a 35 Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) cauldron at the Rod Laver Arena, winning in one hour 31 minutes.

A flurry of unforced errors, 33 to Sharapova's 15, did not help Ivanovic's cause and the partisan 15,000-strong crowd was unable to cheer her to victory in the decider.

The Serb showed no sign of the nerves that crippled her in the French Open final last year and drew first blood as the pair, both 20, probed for weaknesses in the opening game, blasting an ace as Sharapova netted two returns.

But the pumped-up Russian held Ivanovic to love her first four service games, running Ivanovic around with blistering ground-strokes and not hesitating to attack the net and leave her opponent with nowhere to go.

She seized a break in the fifth game as Ivanovic put too much power on her forehand, spraying her returns wide.

The Serb's radar finally kicked in and she scored her first point off Sharapova's serve in the fifth game after 22 minutes, going on to break back after Sharapova double faulted twice.

Sharapova recovered to break Ivanovic again three games later, then served out the set after 49 minutes.

Courtesy:deccanherald.com
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