Maria Sharapova wins Australian Open

Last Updated: Saturday, January 26, 2008 | 1:14 AM ET

CBC Sports

Maria Sharapova won her first Australian Open women's title Saturday, beating Ana Ivanovic 7-5, 6-3 for her third Grand Slam singles crown.

The No. 5-seeded Sharapova, who lost to Serena Williams in the 2007 final in Melbourne, did not lose a set in this year's tournament en route to capturing her first major since the 2006 U.S. Open.

After using an aggressive approach to win her first Australian Open title, Maria Sharapova is a French Open win away from a career Grand Slam.
(Rick Stevens/Associated Press)

"I wasn't even close to winning last year," said Sharapova, who also won Wimbledon in 2004 as a 17-year-old. "It's incredible. If somebody would've told me during the middle of last year I'd be here I'd have said 'forget it."'

Ivanovic, the No. 4 seed, is 0-2 in Grand Slam finals. The Serb fell to world No. 1 Justine Henin at the 2007 French Open.

"I'm very emotional and you guys made it a very special experience for me," Ivanovic told the crowd as tears welled in her eyes.

Early jitters

Sharapova was aggressive from the start against her fellow 20-year-old and, apart from one bad service game in the first set that allowed Ivanovic back to 4-4, controlled the important points for the second consecutive match.

Sharapova beat No. 3 Jelena Jankovic in the semifinals after ending the top-ranked Henin's 32-match winning streak in the quarter-finals.

Both Sharapova and Ivanovic showed some nerves in the first set, with Ivanovic particularly shaky, committing 19 unforced errors to just six winners.

Serving at 2-2, 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 returned the favour, committing three double faults while serving at 4-3, the last two at deuce to hand the game to Ivanovic.

But the leggy Russian shrugged off the setback, running off the last three games, breaking to go ahead 6-5, then pumping her fist and shouting "Go Maria! Come on!"

Taking every second possible between points on a sweltering, sunny day at Rod Laver Arena, Sharapova then held at love.

Advice from a legend

From 3-3 in the second set, Sharapova ran off the last three games again, breaking Ivanovic twice.

The Serb saved two match points but sprayed a forehand wide to give Sharapova the title.

Sharapova dropped to her knees and appeared to be fighting back tears as she waved and blew kisses to the crowd. Then she dropped her racket in her chair before going to shake hands and exchange high fives with her father and supporters.

In her victory speech, Sharapova told the crowd that she'd received a text message from tennis great Billie Jean King telling her that 'champions take chances and pressure is a privilege.'

"I took mine," Sharapova said, thanking King for the encouragement.

Sharapova wished her mother, Yelena, a happy birthday and told her how she planned to spend some of her $1,207,790 US prize money: "With this big fat cheque, I'm going to send you a bunch of roses."

The men's final is set for Sunday morning (3:30 a.m. ET), pitting unseeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga against No. 3 Novak Djokovic, who knocked off top-ranked Roger Federer in the semifinals.