In the final of the Sony Ericsson Open, Victoria Azarenka's powerful tennis made Maria Sharapova's error-prone game surface and the Belarus went first to a 6-1 4-0 lead, and then all the way to a 6-1 6-4 victory for her second title at the tournament in three years.

Sharapova made 43 unforced errors and held serve only once in the entire match. However, after the match Azarenka pointed out how her good selection of shots forced Sharapova to make mistakes: "I think I had the right tactics. She likes to swing big and when she has time it's very heavy and coming fast. So I was trying to take time away and not let her do that… I think she was missing a lot because of my game."

By virtue of winning the $4,5-million event, Azarenka earned $700,000 and a return to her career best ranking of No.6. Sharapova will be back in Top 10, from her current No.13.

Azarenka has won her sixth career title, while Sharapova now has a 0-3 win-loss record in the finals of Miami. (photo via BBC)

The 2011 Sony Ericsson Open final will feature powerful, competitive and loud players – Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka. The two are not underdogs, but it can't be said that they were favored to be the last women standing.

Both have already been at this stage of the Miami tournament, but only Azarenka managed to go a step further and win the title against Serena Williams in 2009. If Sharapova wins this time, it will be a huge thing, but not because it will be her first win in the final of Miami in three attempts, rather because the Premier-level title will be a great milestone in her post shoulder injury career.

If Azarenka’s record against Russian players is of any relevance, let's see the WTA Tour stats:

-    Azarenka has a 46.3% win percentage against Russians (25-29)
-    Azarenka is on a four match winning streak against Russians, the best of her career

As for Azarenka's record against Sharapova in particular, they are tied at 2-2, although it was Azarenka who won their last match, in Stanford final last year. Who will win the title is not easily predictable, but the final promises big fight and powerful game.

The interesting fact is that average rank of Sharapova's Miami opponents was 76, while Azarenka's was significantly higher, 24.

Seed No.16 Maria Sharapova’s road to the final:

R128: bye
R64: def. [WC] Petra Martic 6-3 6-2
R32: def. [WC] Sabine Lisicki 6-2 6-0
R16: def. No. 5 Samantha Stosur  6-4 6-1
QF: def. No. 28 Alexandra Dulgheru 3-6 7-6(6) 7-6(5
SF: def. No. 23 Andrea Petkovic 3-6 6-0 6-2
Total games: 106
Won/lost: 68-38
Sets won/lost: 10-2
Total time on court: 9h 04
Average time on court: 1h 49
Average rank of opponent: 76

Seed No.8 Victoria Azarenka’s road to the final:

R128: bye
R64: def. [Q] Lucie Hradecka 7-5 4-6 6-0
R32: def. No. 25 Dominika Cibulkova 3-6 6-3 6-4
R16: def. No. 21 Anastasia Palyuchenkova 3-6 6-1 6-4
QF: def. No. 2 Kim Clijsters 6-3 6-3
SF: def. No. 3 Vera Zvonareva 6-0 6-3
Total games: 115
Won/lost: 71-44
Sets won/lost: 10-3
Total time on court: 9h 29
Average time on court: 1h 54
Average rank of opponent: 24

Ranking projections say that Sharapova will climb to No.9, from her current No.13, while Azarenka is expected to rise from No.8 to No.6 if she wins (matching her career-high) and to No.7 if she loses the Sony Ericsson Open final. (stats via On the Baseline, photos: sr_cranks)

Petkovic was dominant in the first set and it looked as if we were in for another Petko Dance. However, the match turned into a one-sided affair, to Sharapova's advantage. The Russian won 11 straight games, building a 5-0 lead in the third set, and Petkovic’s inspiring performance at the Sony Ericsson Open had a rather flat end. And this amazing result for Sharapova came despite her grueling 3-6 7-6(6) 7-6(5) win in the previous round against Alexandra Dulgheru, and an ankle injury she suffered then.

All in all, Sharapova forced a perfect revenge for her shockingly easy 6-2 6-3 loss to Petkovic at the 2011 Australian Open.

World No.23 Petkovic will crack the Top 20 when the new rankings are released on Monday, while the 13-ranked Sharapova is ensured a spot in the Top 10 again.

Even though Sharapova played the Sony Ericsson Open final in 2005 and 2006, she will try to win her first title at the tournament, either against Vera Zvonareva or 2009 champion Victoria Azarenka.

Reminder: Do join our contest for a chance to win Maria Sharapova’s Nike dress! (photos: Tidalist, © Neal Trousdale)

In the match against ninth-seeded Radwanska, Zvonareva double faulted at 4-5, 30-all in the first set to give the Pole a set point. However, she saved it with an ace and won three games to win the set. The second set was easier for the Russian, who has a chance to return to No.2 ranking, and she advanced to the semis with a 7-5 6-3 victory.

The other semifinal will feature Andrea Petkovic, who toughed it out against Jelena Jankovic, and Maria Sharapova, who had her fair share of hard time against Alexandra Dulgheru in the quarterfinal match that lasted almost three and a half hours. (source: WTA Tour, photo: sr_cranks)

Ana Ivanovic

Stunning facts of this rain-delayed encounter are that Ivanovic converted only 5 of 22 break points and she finished the match with more points and games won than defending champion and world No.2 Clijsters!

Ivanovic was also in doubles competition with Andrea Petkovic, but since both are tired from their last singles matches (Petkovic had a tough victory over sixth seed Jelena Jankovic in the quarterfinals), they have withdrawn from doubles. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

In the first set, the seventh-ranked Jankovic faced no break points and won 80% of points on her serve, compared to Petkovic's 49%. Also, she won 51% of return points, compared to Petkovic's low 20%.

German world No.23 Petkovic established a 2-0 lead in the beginning of the second set and even though Jankovic had multiple break points in the third game, after a long fight Petkovic increased the lead to 3-0 and solidly went on to win the set 6-2.

In the decider, it was Jankovic who was first in the better position, leading 4-2, but it was obvious it wouldn't be an easy job for her. Petkovic took charge and even though Jankovic kept fighting, and maintained the match thrilling until the end, Petkovic won four straight games to reach the semifinals of the $4,500,000 tournament. (photo: sr_cranks)

The 23-year-old Petkovic had a precise strategy for this encounter and she managed to stick to it. Also, the facts that Wozniacki wasted three set points at 5-4 in the first set, committed more than 50 unforced errors in the match and converted only 5 of 17 break points helped Petkovic become the first German woman since Steffi Graf in 1999 to beat a reigning No.1

"I didn’t try to overpower her because she’s so good at bringing the ball back, so I tried to mix it up a little bit," Petkovic told Tennis Channel.

Wozniacki, who won her 14th career title a week ago at Indian Wells, will remain No. 1 through at least April 18.

On another note, here's the latest video of Wozniacki answering fans' Facebook questions, including the one about her fashion – Wozniacki describes her style as nice, feminine, with not too much going on, like classic, feminine and cute. Hm, classic? Not too much going on?

Let's also mention that seed No.16 Maria Sharapova staged an upset of her own with a 6-4 6-1 defeat of fourth seed Samantha Stosur in the fourth round of the Sony Ericsson Open. (photo: sr_cranks)

Ana Ivanovic advanced to the fourth round of the Sony Ericsson Open after coming back from a set down and then earning a double break in the decider when her opponent, Virginie Razzano, retired with a thigh injury.

The 23-year-old Ivanovic broke the 101st-ranked Razzano in the opening game, but failed to hold her own service game right afterwards and Razzano cruised through the rest of the first set. In the second set, Ivanovic fought off five break points in the sixth game to earn a 4-2 lead and then efficiently went on to win the last set of the match that was finished before Razzano’s retirement. Final score: 2-6 6-2 3-0.

In the fourth round, Ivanovic will face either Kim Clijsters or Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. But before that, the Serb will be active in doubles – actually, right now she’s playing with Andrea Petkovic against Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in the second round. (photo: © Neal Trousdale, Forty Deuce)

Wearing red t-shirts with Japanese flags at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, tennis players acknowledged the hardships Japan is going through. Moreover, they raised funds to help the country which is hosting one of the major stops in tennis tournaments.

Tennis world, including contributions from the WTA, ATP, ITF, four Grand Slams and tennis fans, has collected over $300,000 for Japan. In addition, sports brand Fila, represented by Kim Clijsters, who had said she would skip the Tokyo tournament because of radiation fears, made special Japan t-shirts which are being sold at the Sony Ericsson Open during the weekend and all the proceeds will go to the country struck by the tsunami-nuclear disaster.

Furthermore, players including WTA stars Caroline Wozniacki, Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic and Ai Sugiyama recorded video messages sharing their love for Japan. Videos will be shown throughout the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open and online on Facebook and official websites of women's and men's tours.

Here you can read more about the Japan relief initiatives.

Maria Sharapova is playing the Sony Ericsson Open for the first time in three years, and her opening round was successful, both in terms of her result and fashion-wise.

The 16th-seeded Russian, two-time finalist at the event, cruised past Croatian wildcard Petra Martic 6-3 6-2 in the second round. Also, the tennis fashion icon used the high-profile tournament to debut the Nike Maria Sharapova Cross Court Statement Dress ($110). Nike has switched from orange and gray tones to blue combined with gold – actually, the official colors of this dress are "chlorine blue, copa and bronze" (copa?).

Nike has had less extravagant and less cutting-edge designs for Sharapova so far this year. These simple and pretty dresses remind me of adidas' approach. However, Wimbledon and US Open are yet to come, those are the tournaments where Sharapova brings her most unique fashion.

Sharapova's opponent in the third round will be another wildcard, Sabine Lisicki, who had a retirement victory over seed No.18 Nadia Petrova. (source: Down the Line, first photo via Yahoo)