When Maria Sharapova walked on court for the Australian Open final, she kept thinking about the sage advice of another champion.
"Champions take chances and pressure is a privilege," Billy Jean King had written in a text message that Sharapova saw when she woke up.
"I took mine," fifth-ranked Sharapova said after beating Ana Ivanova 7-5, 6-3 yesterday for her third Grand Slam title.
PHOTO: EPA
As she did throughout the tournament -- she did not lose a set in seven matches. Sharapova was clearly determined that nothing would stop her after winning only three games against Serena Williams in last year's final.
She was over a shoulder problem that plagued her last year. She was hitting winners with regularity. Her focus never wavered, even when her usually dependable serve briefly let her down.
She was not as sharp as when she ended top-ranked Justine Henin's 32-match winning streak in the quarter-finals, or when she beat No. 3 Jelena Jankovic in the semi-finals. But there was no doubt she deserved to win.
"I did the things I needed to do in order to win the match," Sharapova said, making it sound a lot more simple than it was.
Ivanovic, who at 20 is the same age as Sharapova and will rise to No. 2 when the new rankings come out, was left to find a silver lining.
"I'm still young and I still think I have a lot of Grand Slam finals in front of me," Ivanovic said. "It hurts a bit now, but I'm sure I can learn from it."
Now Serbia's hopes for a title here rest with No. 3 Novak Djokovic, who faces unseeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the men's final tomorrow evening.
Sharapova's 2004 Wimbledon title made her only the second Russian woman to win a major -- just weeks after Anastasia Myskina captured the French Open.
Her win over Ivanovic was the fifth major by a Russian woman.
Sharapova first met King, winner of 39 singles and doubles Grand Slam titles, at a juniors tournament when she was 13 or 14.
"From that point on, she's just always been really supportive," Sharapova said. "She's always one of the first people to text me when either I'm having a tough moment or a great win."
She woke up to King's inspirational text message.
"I had those great words in my mind during the match," she said, adding that when it was over, she got another message: "Congratulations. You did great."
On a hot, mostly sunny day, Sharapova retreated to the shade behind the baselines between points. It was Australia Day, so organizers put small national flags at each seat, but there were plenty of Serbian and Russian flags too.
Both players showed some nerves; Sharapova was simply more consistent. She had only two more winners than Ivanovic, but less than half as many as the Serbian's 33 unforced errors.
"I knew I had to be aggressive and that type of game will obviously cause more mistakes," Ivanovic said.
Serving at 2-2 in the first set, Ivanovic set up double break point with a double fault, then sent a forehand long.
After holding serve the first three times at love, Sharapova committed three double faults while serving at 4-3 to hand the game to Ivanovic.
She shrugged off the setback, running off the last three games, rallying from 0-30 as she served for the set.
"I didn't get impatient," Sharapova said. "She's two points away from winning the first set in a Grand Slam final. If you want it, take it. And she didn't."
From 3-3 in the second set, Sharapova ran off the last three games again, breaking Ivanovic for the fourth time to finish the match.
Sharapova dropped to her knees and appeared to be fighting back tears as she waved and blew kisses to the crowd. She shook hands and exchanged high fives with her father and supporters.
Sharapova wished her mother, Yelena, a happy birthday and told her how she planned to spend some of her A$1.37 million (US$1.21 million) prize money.
"With this big fat check, I'm going to send you a bunch of roses," she said. "Last year I lost on her birthday and this year I said I'm going to make it up to her, and I did."
The Russian star said when her coach and hitting partner Michael Joyce's mother died, it helped her cope with the hard times.
"I want to dedicate this win to her because after the loss [Joyce] suffered, I got a whole lot of perspective with my injuries and setbacks. It helped me prioritize so many things that were outside of tennis," Sharapova said.
Boston Red Sox pitcher Connelly Early on Tuesday struck out 11 in five shutout innings to match a franchise record during his MLB debut against the Oakland Athletics. “Pretty sick performance,” teammate Romy Gonzalez said. “It was fun to watch.” The only other Red Sox starter to rack up 11 strikeouts in his first career game was Don Aase versus the Milwaukee Brewers on July 26, 1977. “It was amazing, just to go out there and have that first opportunity,” Early said after getting the win in a 6-0 victory. “A long day of travel yesterday and just getting to the field, seeing
Mikel Merino on Sunday scored a hat-trick as a majestic Spain thumped Turkey 6-0 away in World Cup qualifying, while a brilliant Florian Wirtz free-kick helped Germany beat Northern Ireland 3-1 to get their bid up and running. European champions Spain were in unstoppable form in the central Turkish city of Konya, claiming their second biggest-ever away win in World Cup qualifying as Arsenal midfielder Merino scored his first professional hat-trick. Barcelona playmaker Pedri Gonzalez opened the scoring inside six minutes and later completed the scoring, with Ferran Torres netting the visitors’ other goal. The quality of Merino’s strikes was remarkable, with his
ELEVEN STRIKEOUTS: Blake Snell allowed two singles and two walks against the Rockies as he ended a personal three-game skid with his first win since Aug. 16 Blake Snell on Wednesday struck out a season-high 11 in six innings, while Mookie Betts hit a grand slam in the eighth as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Colorado Rockies 9-0 for their fourth straight win. Helped by their third series sweep of the Rockies this MLB season, the Dodgers increased their National League West lead to three games over the San Diego Padres, who lost 2-1 at home to the Cincinnati Reds. Betts went four for five with five RBIs, capped by his seventh career slam on a 3-0 pitch from reliever Anthony Molina to make it 8-0. Andy Pages and
SWEDEN BEATEN: Goals in the first half by Elvis Rexhbecaj and Vedat Muriqi were enough to give Kosovo their second-ever win in World Cup qualifying Sandro Tonali’s last-gasp winner on Monday edged Italy to a 5-4 victory over Israel in FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifying, while Kosovo beat Sweden despite Alexander Isak making his first appearance of the season. After collapsing from leading 4-2 in the final two minutes to drawing 4-4, Tonali’s 91st-minute strike in the Hungarian city of Debrecen sent Italy above Israel and into the playoff spot in Group I. New coach Gennaro Gattuso’s side trail leaders Norway by three points and still have a chance of taking first place and the group’s sole direct qualifying spot as they seek to avoid missing out
RSS