Maria Sharapova maintained her unbeaten record this year with a hard-hitting win over Agnieszka Radwanska which carried her to the final of the US$2.5 million Qatar Open on Saturday.
The Australian Open champion beat the 18-year-old Pole, who has just reached the world's top 20 for the first time, 6-4, 6-3, a scoreline which also means Sharapova has still only dropped one set this year.
Sharapova will now face compatriot Vera Zvonareva, who ended the giant-killing run of China's Li Na, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the other semi-final.
The great improvement in Sharapova's serving shown in Melbourne -- made possible by the recovery from the shoulder problem which blighted her tennis last year -- was again in evidence, and was supplemented by a strident policy with her returning.
"I was a little bit worried coming here because I had done a lot of traveling and when I got here I had a little cold, and because of the court change my body was feeling it. I thought `here we go again,'" said Sharapova, referring to her health and fitness problems of last year.
"But once I got more practice on the courts I felt better and it all started to come together. I do feel physically stronger," she said when complimented on the quality of her court coverage in this match. "But the most important thing is to go into a match you really want to win and to consistently do it."
Sharapova took the ball early and forcefully, risking a few errors but creating constant pressure, a policy which particularly paid off during a crucial phase in the middle of the second set.
"It was a good opportunity for me to play someone who had beaten me," Sharapova said, referring to the fact that she had lost to Radwanska the last time they met, at the US Open in New York five months ago.
"Radwanska played well at the start of the match and I almost went 3-0 down," the fourth seed said.
"I had to play good tennis to get it back. It wasn't an easy match; it was quite tough out there, but I was able to do the job," she said.
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