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

Henin outlasts Sharapova in WTA Tour final

Madrid, Spain (Sports Network) - Justine Henin of Belgium outlasted Russia's Maria Sharapova to win her the season-ending WTA Tour Sony Ericsson Championships.
The top-seeded Henin, who disposed of Serbia's Ana Ivanovic, 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals, dropped the first set and was down 3-4 in the second before rebounding to take a 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 victory in a battle that nearly lasted 3 1/2 hours, a record for a three-set final at this tourney.
Henin also won this title last year and secured her 10th singles crown of 2007. The last woman to win as many 10 titles in a single season was Martina Hingis, who won 12 times in 1997. The Belgian is also riding a 25-match winning streak, dating back to a semifinal loss to Marion Bartoli at Wimbledon.
Sharapova was the 2004 winner of this event and was gunning for just on her second title of 2007. Her lone victory of the year came in a U.S. Open tuneup this summer at the Acura Classic in San Diego. She also lost in the final at the Australian Open and reached the title match at the Wimbledon tuneup in Birmingham...Full Story

Sharapova pulls out of Fed Cup semis

Moscow, Russia (Sports Network) - Maria Sharapova will not play for the Russian team in this weekend's Fed Cup semifinal matchup against the United States.
The World No. 2 bowed out after struggling over the past few months with a shoulder problem.
"Over the past 48 hours I have consulted with my medical team and I have been advised that I need to rest my shoulder for the next 10 days with no activity," said Sharapova on her web site.
Sharapova is coming off a drubbing at the hands of eventual champion Venus Williams in the fourth round of Wimbledon last week,
The Russian star will be replaced by Elena Vesnina for the July 14-15 tie in Vermont.

Sharapova, Mauresmo charge into fourth round at Wimbledon

Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - Second-seeded former champion Maria Sharapova of Russia and fourth-seeded reigning titlist Amelie Mauresmo of France were a pair of third-round winners on a rainy Day 6 at Wimbledon.
The former world No. 1 Sharapova flew past 26th-seeded Japanese Ai Sugiyama 6-3, 6-3, while the former top-ranked Mauresmo won her 10th straight match at the venerable All England Lawn Tennis Club by pasting 28th-seeded Italian Mara Santangelo 6-1, 6-2 in between rain delays on the famed Centre Court.
The start of Saturday's play was delayed by rain, and the wet weather returned just as Sharapova dismissed Sugiyama on Court 1.
The two-time Grand Slam event champion Sharapova was the 2004 Wimbledon champ and is the reigning U.S. Open titlist. She was also this year's Australian Open runner-up to American Serena Williams.
Mauresmo, who is also a two-time major titlist, beat Belgian star Justine Henin in last year's Wimbledon and Aussie Open finals.

Sharapova, Venus march on at Wimbledon

Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - Second-seeded and former champion Maria Sharapova and three-time winner Venus Williams were easy second-round winners Thursday at Wimbledon.
The 2004 Wimbledon titlist Sharapova breezed past France's Severine Bremond 6-0, 6-3. The two-time major champion Sharapova was last year's U.S. Open champ and this year's Australian Open runner-up.
A 23rd-seeded Williams improved to a career 46-7 at the All England Club with a 6-2, 6-2 spanking of Czech Hana Sromova. The five-time Grand Slam event champion captured this grass-court extravaganza in 2000, 2001 and 2005 and was the 2002 and 2003 runner-up to her younger sister Serena.
Former U.S. Open champion and 2006 French Open runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova handled American Bethanie Mattek 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, while 2007 French Open finalist Ana Ivanovic of Serbia bested American Meilen Tu 6-4, 6-3 to advance at the AEC. Kuznetsova and Ivanovic are seeded fifth and sixth here, respectively. Ivanovic gave way to reigning world No. 1 Justine Henin in the final at Roland Garros earlier this month.
Eighth-seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze cruised past Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus 6-2, 6-1, while 10th-seeded Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova struggled to top Russian veteran Elena Likhovtseva 7-5, 7-6 (7-3).
A surprise came when Japan's Akiko Morigami toppled 13th-seeded Russian Dinara Safina 6-4, 7-5.
In other second-round action involving top-16 seeds, No. 11 Russian Nadia Petrova pasted Indian Sania Mirza 6-2, 6-2; No. 12 Russian Elena Dementieva, a two-time Grand Slam runner-up, drubbed Czech Iveta Benesova 6-2, 6-2; No. 14 Czech Nicole Vaidisova vaulted past veteran Aussie Nicole Pratt 6-3, 6-2; and No. 15 Swiss Patty Schnyder overcame Italian Roberta Vinci 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Other seeded second-round winners were No. 19 Slovenian Katarina Srebotnik, No. 24 Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko, No. 25 Czech Lucie Safarova, No. 26 Japanese Ai Sugiyama, No. 28 Italian Mara Santangelo and No. 31 Dutchwoman Michaella Krajicek.
In some other upsets, Austrian Tamira Paszek took out 17th-seeded Frenchwoman Tatiana Golovin 6-2, 3-6, 6-1; Belarusian Victoria Azarenka erased 21st-seeded Italian Tathiana Garbin 6-1, 6-3; France's Aravane Rezai clipped 29th-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 2-6, 6-4; and Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska leveled 32nd-seeded German Martina Muller 6-1, 4-0, retired.
One other second-round victor was veteran Spaniard Virginia Ruano Pascual.