Maria Sharapova stops Andrea Petkovic for Miami final

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Wilson Blade 9

German Andrea Petkovic came to the semifinal against struggling Maria Sharapova with the confidence of upsets over world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth round and sixth seed Jelena Jankovic in the quarterfinals, but in the second and third sets the Russian showed the form that brought her so many titles and number one ranking to win the match 3-6 6-0 6-2.

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)

14 COMMENTS

  1. Aaaaaaaaa!!! She made my day!! So glad, she won. Andrea played a fantastic tournament, but Masha’s fihgting spirit, is just out of this world. That’s way I admire her so much. Hope she will get title. Let’s go, Maria….Russia’s No.1!!!

  2. Angelina, that’s the best thing about Maria, besides her game which is so powerful when she’s 100%, her fighting spirit never ever dies! Rare are such players actually!

    Gregoire, Andrea will come up with something new! 😉

  3. After Adrea beat Maria at AO, she did the Petko dance while Maria was still on court. The camera did a closeup of Maria and she didn’t look happy – probably already plotting revenge.
    This was her chance BUT Maria was hardly playing her best tennis and was coming off a 3.5 hour 3 setter. Would she have the energy? Would the ankle be a problem for her? Could she even get the ball over the net without double-faulting in double figures?

    It certainly looked dire for Sharapova in the first set, then something kicked in (divine intervention?) and suddenly she was on fire, just overpowering Andrea. Previously, Petkovic said that this was the last tournament she’s doing the Petko dance and Maria has the satisfaction of being the player who retired it.

    PS: After defeating Wozzy, during the after-match interview Andrea happily detailed her game plan for beating Caroline which was something she should’ve kept secret–now Caro will make the necessary adjustments and have extra motivation to crush Andrea next meeting.

  4. Oh, so glad for Maria! 😀 😀 I thought she would lose because of that long match and injury, but her perfomance in second and third set was outstanding! Like in her best days! Hope she can play like that in finals too. She’ll have extra motivation there, too. I’m really happy she showed some brilliant game, it’s very promising for the future months, even though clay court season is coming. As for Andrea, Maria was just too good.

  5. I have to admit, I’ve been sceptical about Maria’s game in the past few months, but yesterday… She was just amazing! 🙂 I’d say one of her best performances since the comeback. It really brings us hope she’s still capable of biggest achievments. 😀 Too bad for Andrea, but with Masha playing like this, every player would be in trouble. I hope she can repeat this game and win the title, she’s playing against Azarenka, so she should have an extra motivation. 😀 Go, Maria!

  6. Great perfomance by both. Why did Andrea give away such important info like a tactic against Wozniacki is beyond me. Oh dear, probably all that enthusiasm got too much into her head and she just wanted “shared her joy”. This can come back to haunt her as Wozniacki is not one of those who repeat the same mistakes.

  7. Masha played so devastating in the last two set, Andrea hasn’t played badly, especially in the first set, but then Maria’s return in the match has eclipsed her …And I appreciated too Maria’s reaction after winning the match! 😉
    It’s nice to see her play again in confidence… As for Andrea, she played a good tournament and I hope she can join other good results, I really like her!

  8. 🙁 🙁 🙁
    What a mess! Petko had the strengh to win. But Maria played her best tennis. Congrats to both.
    It’s a big step for our german tennis. Andrea came in the semi-final of a Masters!!!!!!!!! When was a german lastly so succesful?

  9. As a fully signed up member of the Petkorazzi I’m sad she couldn’t make it all the way and went out to “The Scream”. The only bright point is the fact that it might leave Andrea free to make more hilarious videoblogs, but I’d rather see her take a title. She’s one of the best players to watch on tour!

  10. Maria is ridiculing Petko’s dance 😛

    Maria: More than anything, I sensed that she was tired probably a lot of the dancing that she’s been doing and I took advantage of it.

    Q. She thought you would be tired in the third after the long match you had the previous night. Didn’t seem to be that way.

    Maria: Because I didn’t do the dance after. I wasn’t tired.

  11. Marija, ahahahahah… I have just read the same interview, I believe that Maria didn’t really like the dance of the AO! 😛

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