Sharapova Tames Venus, Will Meet Clijsters in Miami Final
Posted on April 1, 2005 |
"She's got a lot of fighting spirit out there," said Sharapova after beating the elder Williams 6-4, 6-3. "I was very proud of myself for being able to win that (last long) game (of the match). It was a very tough one."
Venus after the match showed the old Williams sisters fighting spirit in her post-match conference, blaming the result on her own errors and lack of energy.
"I think the first problem for me was just I was so tired today," Venus said. "I don't know why. I'm usually not tired...But all in all, it was just a match that was all about the errors I made."
Venus choked in some enforced errors serving at 4-5 in the first, then Sharapova ran to a 4-1 lead in the second before eventually closing it out.
Sharapova was also impressed with her own effort.
"I'll just say that I thought I played really well," Sharapova said. "I was in control for most of the match, and I was serving really well, and I was getting a lot of advantage from them, and I was able to break her in the first set when she tried to hold her serve at 5-4. I think she was making a lot of errors from her forehand side, which gave me the confidence."
In the final Sharapova will face the resurgent Clijsters, who she has lost to in both their career meetings in 2003, in the Sharapova pre-Wimbledon winning days.
Clijsters' win over Mauresmo was her seventh in a row, and ran her win streak this year to 13 in a row after the Indian Wells title.
"It's amazing," Clijsters said after pasting Mauresmo. "I'm enjoying myself very much on the court."
Before being force-fed the breadstick and bagel, Mauresmo had a chance to re-take the No. 1 spot by winning two more matches in Miami.
"She's hitting the ball better and harder than when she stopped," Mauresmo said. "She has all the confidence. She has nothing to lose."
Doubles quarterfinal winners Thursday were (5) Raymond/Stubbs (d. (2) Petrova/Shaughnessy) and the unseeded South African/Bulgarian combo of Huber/Maleeva (d. Russians Bovina/Dementieva from a set down).
On court today on the women's side in Miami are the doubles semifinals in (5) Raymond/Stubbs vs. Huber/Maleeva, and (1) Ruano Pascual/Suarez vs. (3) Kuznetsova/Molik.