Maria Sharapova reached the final of the Regions Morgan Keegan Champs / Cellular South Cup and is now just one win away of her first title of the season and the 21st of her career.
The top-seeded Russian won a tight first set and then rallied from 0-2 in the second set to beat fifth seed Petra Kvitova 6-4 6-3 in the semifinals. Sharapova’s opponent in the title match will be qualifier Sofia Arvidsson, who battled past Anne Keothavong 6-4 4-6 6-4.
The 102nd-ranked Arvidsson won the Memphis tournament four years ago, and has also taken out second seed Melanie Oudin at this year’s quarterfinals.
Sharapova defeated Arvidsson in the only match they played so far, but it was a long time ago, in 2003.
I consider this one won for Maria. Nice start of the year after the disappointment in AO. Maria obviously decided to take it easy this time.
She should definitely be the winner of this one, but let’s not rush just in case.