Sharapova wins in Doha
2008-02-24 21:17
Doha - Maria Sharapova claimed her second title of the year and the 18th of her career when she defeated unseeded Vera Zvonareva 6-1 2-6 6-0 in an all-Russian final at the Qatar Open on Sunday.
The Australian Open champion, who extended her unbeaten run
this year to 14 matches, lost to Zvonareva in their last meeting
at Indian Wells 11 months ago and after dominating the opening
set once again found herself in trouble against her former top
ten opponent.
Playing in a packed 5 000-seat stadium, fourth seed
Sharapova made a dreadful start, dropping the opening game to
love.
But she repaired the situation immediately, levelling at 1-1
and then overwhelming her opponent with her deep groundstrokes
and powerful forehand.
Moving with increasing fluency, her aggressive play forced a
number of errors from Zvonareva and allowed her to break twice
more for the set and it appeared as if she would continue on to
an easy victory.
But the second set saw a complete reversal.
A double-fault gave Zvonareva a break for 2-0 after
Sharapova had led the game 40-0, and her aggressive
groundstrokes forced the struggling favourite into a succession
of errors.
Making just three unforced errors, Zvonareva dominated the
set and broke again to level the match on her fifth set point.
The pendulum swung again in the final set as a determined
Sharapova raised her level once more, taking control from the
first game and surrendering just eight points in the remainder
of the match.
And AFP reports from Rotterdam that Michael Llodra beat
Swede Robin Soderling in the Rotterdam Open on Sunday.
The victory added Llodra's name to those of compatriots Cedric Pioline (2000 champion) and Nicolas Escude, who claimed the next two editions.
Llodra now stands alongside Andy Murray as the only player with two titles this season after winning Adelaide at the start of the year.
Llodra has been going all-out this season, playing in his 23rd match of 2008 including doubles.
He was treated for a back problem during the second set while leading Soderling by a break.
The pair slugged it out in an ace-fest, Soderling striking 22 while Llodra fired 15.
Soderling was playing in only his second event of the past six months after a wrist injury which kept him off the court until last week in Marseille.
- Reuters