Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams reached a crescendo in the final game, swapping shrieks that accompanied their shots in a series of furious exchanges.
Sharapova was a little louder and a bit better.
Holding her ground and her serve when Williams mounted a comeback, Sharapova erased six break points to close out a 6-4, 6-3 victory Thursday in the semifinals of the Nasdaq-100 Open.
The second-seeded Sharapova advanced to her first Key Biscayne final. She'll play unseeded Kim Clijsters today, who extended her winning streak to 13 matches by routing top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo 6-1, 6-0.
Top-ranked Roger Federer and six-time champion Andre Agassi advanced to a semifinal showdown Friday night. Federer, bidding for his first Key Biscayne title, beat No. 6 Tim Henman 6-4, 6-2. Agassi, seeded ninth, won the final eight games to defeat Taylor Dent 7-5, 6-0.
Federer has beaten Agassi six times in a row and eliminated him at the past two Grand Slam events. The other semifinal will be an all-Spanish matchup between unseeded David Ferrer and No. 29 Rafael Nadal.
Williams, seeded eighth, ended a streak of six consecutive losses to her sister by beating Serena in the quarterfinals. But with Serena watching from the stands, Sharapova refused to let Venus pull off another upset.
Hitting with the precision of a ball machine, only noisier, Sharapova consistently placed her powerful serves and groundstrokes within inches of the lines. The reigning Wimbledon champion punctuated each big swing with her familiar high-pitched grunt and committed just 12 unforced errors in 115 points.
"I thought I played really well," Sharapova said. "I was in control for most of the match."
By the end, the grinding rallies had Williams shrieking, too.
The final game lasted 16 points, with both players racing corner to corner in pursuit of shots. Williams failed to convert her only break-point chances in the match and finally sailed a weary backhand long on match point.
"She's got a lot of fighting spirit out there," Sharapova said. "I was very proud of myself for being able to win that game. It was a very tough one."
Williams offered a less gracious assessment. She blamed fatigue for her defeat and only grudgingly gave credit to Sharapova.
"She played fairly consistently," Williams said. "I probably shouldn't have made so many mistakes. I'll remember not to next time."
Both players held easily through the first nine games, before Williams wavered serving at 4-5. Sharapova hit two strong returns for the first break-point chance, and Williams sailed a forehand long to give the Russian the set.
Sharapova broke again and took leads of 3-0 and 4-1 in the second set. She hit one forehand winner past the 6-foot-1 Williams from two steps behind the baseline.
When she closed out the victory, Sharapova sank to her knees and slapped the baseline with glee. Still three weeks shy of her 18th birthday, she's 22-2 this year and has staged a remarkable rebound from a 6-0, 6-0 loss two weeks ago to Lindsay Davenport at Indian Wells.
"That was a long time ago," she said.
Williams fell shy in a bid for her fourth Key Biscayne title and her first since 2001, but she drew encouragement from her first victory over Serena in 3 years.
"This is a great tournament for me," she said. "I feel very positive about my game."
Clijsters eliminated Mauresmo in 62 minutes, losing only 10 points in the second set. The Belgian, coming back from a career-threatening wrist injury that sidelined her for much of last year, won the Indian Wells title two weeks ago and has beaten five seeded players in a row at Key Biscayne.
RSS