Maria Sharapova Surges into Australian Open Semifinals

Posted on January 24, 2006

<a href='http://www.tennis-x.com/playernews/Maria-Sharapova.php' id=namelink>Maria Sharapova</a> MELBOURNE, Australia - For the third consecutive Grand Slam, Maria Sharapova and Nadia Petrova squared off in the quarterfinals, and for the third consecutive time it was Sharapova who prevailed in a tight battle, as round of eight action began at the 2006 Australian Open in Melbourne.

In a battle between Russia's two highest-ranked players on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, No.4 seed Sharapova defeated No.6 seed Petrova 76(6) 64 in just over two hours. Both sets were extremely competitive, with the two players trading breaks three times in the first set en route to a tie-break, where Petrova blew two set points leading 6-4, eventually double-faulting at 6-7 to give Sharapova a one-set lead.

Sharapova carried her winning momentum into the second set, building a seemingly insurmountable 4-1, two-break lead, but Petrova fought back, breaking back for 4-3 and nearly gaining the second break back when Sharapova fell behind 0-40 trying to serve the match out at 5-4. However, the 18-year-old won five consecutive points against the 23-year-old to move into her second straight Australian Open semifinal and improve to 4-1 lifetime against her compatriot. The match was riddled with unforced errors, but it was Sharapova who had the cleaner numbers of the two, compiling a -21 differential (15 winners, 36 errors) compared to her opponent's -31 (16 winners, 49 errors).

"It was definitely not easy," Sharapova said. "I was having trouble with the direction of the wind. It was going in one direction the whole match. When I was playing against the wind, I would hit the ball harder with more spin on my serve. Then when I would go to the other side, I'd do the same thing, and it felt like the ball was just going way out... I just tried to hang in there. It's really tough being down two set points. But I gutted it out in the first point, then had an easy second point. It definitely wasn't easy."

"I just feel like I simply gave it away," said Petrova, who was contesting her very first Australian Open quarterfinal, having been at least that far at all three of the other majors. "I had all the chances in the first set... I must say she fought hard for it. She stayed in the game. I mean, there's nothing I can do about it now. I can just go through my mistakes and get my head cleared from all this and just move forward."

Sharapova and Petrova had also played tight matches at Wimbledon and the US Open last year. At the All-England Club last June, Sharapova enjoyed a similar 76(6) 63 victory, and at Flushing Meadows in September she was given all she could handle in a marathon 75 46 64 victory. The Russian teenager will now have a chance to put to rest some difficult memories from last year's Australian Open semifinals, where she served for the match twice and squandered three match points in a 26 75 86 loss to eventual champion Serena Williams.

"I'll have to step it up, that's for sure," Sharapova added. "I'm moving a lot better. I feel like the biggest weapon of mine is just my toughness, and I know that over any girls, until the end, I'm just going to be a tough opponent. Even if I'm making a lot of unforced errors, I'm just going to try to do the best that I can and just to give it all I have out there. I've won a lot of matches like that. So even if I'm not going to be playing my best tennis, I'm just going to give it all I have. I don't know if that's going to be enough, but I'll sure be trying."

Tuesday's second quarterfinal took place during the night session, pitting top seed and current world No.1 Lindsay Davenport against No.8 seed and former No.1 Justine Henin-Hardenne, both former Australian Open champions. (WTA)