Strong-serving Sharapova wins Australian Open title

Melbourne, Australia (Sports Network) - Russian Maria Sharapova used strong serving to capture her third Grand Slam title, beating Serbian Ana Ivanovic, 7-5, 6-3 on Saturday to win the 2008 Australian Open.

The fifth-seeded Sharapova won 24 of her last 26 service points in the battle of 20-year-olds. Incredibly, she won 24 of 27 points on her first serve for the match.

"This is just incredible," Sharapova said to the crowd at Rod Laver Arena after the match. "If someone had told me in the middle of last year that I'd be standing on this stage in front of all you guys with the big one I'd probably say forget it."

Sharapova, who didn't lose a set over these two weeks, had also won Wimbledon in 2004 and the U.S. Open in 2006. She lost the 2007 Australian Open final to American Serena Williams.

Sharapova said the last year has been a trying one since her coach's mother passed away. Sharapova said she also got inspiration for the match from a text message earlier on Saturday from Hall of Famer Billie Jean King, the 1968 Australian Open champion...Full Story