Simply sublime as Maria Sharapova seizes her first Australian Open title

Congratulations are in order as Maria Sharapova blasted her way to her third Grandslam crown. The victim this time was Serbian sensation Ana Ivanovic, but the real sensation this time round was Maria as she tamed the rising start in straight sets. So how did she beat Ana Ivanovic and what were the key factors that once again put here back into the winning circle.
 
 
The match: Before the match started their head-to-head were tied at 2-2. Maria won their last encounter in Madrid while Ana ended Maria’s best run in the French Open.
 
The first set was bursting with quality and tension as the power driven pair were keeping up with each others. Strangely Maria was the first to get into major trouble as she was 0-30 4-5 when serving to level the match. But the feisty Russian fought back to hold and didn’t stop there, as she broke the Serbian and served out the set to love. Maria upped her game in the second set as she was ruthless throughout. The Russian was in her stride as she reeled off four consecutive games to claim her first Australian Open title.
 
Maria embraced her win, “This is just incredible – if someone had told me in the middle of last year I’d be standing here in front of you all holding the big one, I’d probably say forget it.”
 
She may have lost yet another Grandslam final but this time round she put up a fight unlike her sloppy form in the Roland Garros final. “I’m sure we will be playing many more matches in the future. I want to thanks all the people in my box for supporting me and I look forward to seeing everyone again next year.”
 
Justine Henin outclassed while the Williams sisters get sloppy: The world no.1 wasn’t on great form as she was already enduring long sets in the early rounds but the Belgian was simply out classed by Maria in a 6-4 6-0 thrashing.
 
The Williams sisters really disappointed many. Let’s start off with the defending champion Serena Williams. She came into the tournament on good form. She was upping her play as she went through the draw and her serve was accelerating. Last year she was doing the same the only exception was her level in the final. But she completely threw out that momentum and was a big mess against a weakened Jelena Jankovic.
 
Venus Williams won the Hong Kong warm-up event beating Maria Sharapova comfortably in straight sets. She came into the first Grandslam of the year in incredible form. But she lost her flawless play immediately and went through matches relying on her divine winning skills that saw her through winning situations. It was all one big question mark as no one knew when she would bring out her best or if she would. Ana Ivanovic sent the American packing in a 7-6(3) 6-4 defeat.
 
Both Williams sisters have minor injuries, however even they have not used it as an excuse.
 
Beaten semi-finalists Daniela Hantuchova and Jelena Jankovic will be happy with a great run in Melbourne. The no.2 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova was disappointed early on by Radwanska, as Poland’s pride made it into her first Grandslam quarter-final. Lindsay Davenport and Elena Dementieva were thrashed by Maria Sharapova. Last year’s semi-finalist Nicole Vaidisova was yet again beaten by Serena Williams.
 
She was given by far the toughest draw but she prevailed in classic fashion. Maria Sharapova played out of her skin and didn’t drop a set to claim Grandslam no.3.     
For more information on Maria's win and more, visit my website!