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Murray And Serena Win Miami Title by luvmijeje(f): 8:40pm On Mar 30, 2013 |
MIAMI, FL, USA - Serena Williams cooled off a red hot Maria Sharapova in the final of the Sony Open Tennis on Saturday afternoon, seemingly with her back against the wall at a set and a break down but then rattling off 10 games in a row to conquer the prestigious tournament for a record sixth time. Click here to watch match highlights, interviews and more video from Miami! Williams started the match with an emphatic hold, firing winners from her three biggest weapons - a forehand winner on the first point, a backhand winner on the second point, and an ace to close the game out - but it didn't take too long for her opponent to make her own agenda known in the match. Sharapova held in the next game and pushed Williams to a multiple deuce game in her next serve game, her returns hard and her movement sharp - and that's how she continued to play for the next hour, eventually taking the first set, 6-4, and breaking the Williams serve to lead the second set, 3-2. The match turned on a dime from there, though - with Sharapova serving 3-2, Williams blasted a backhand winner, a forehand winner and a big backhand return to build triple break point, and then she sealed the deal at love to even the second set, 3-3. It would be the start of the World No.1's latest comeback, as her serve started hitting the corners and her groundies got deeper and deeper. Williams wouldn't lose another game the rest of the way to complete a 46 63 60 win over Sharapova. The numbers from the match were telling - Williams had 14 winners to 18 unforced errors in the first set but finished the match with 34 winners to 29 unforced errors - a very positive 20 to 11 across the second and third sets, most of those errors coming in the first five games of the second set. And that goes with the trend, too: Williams leads all active players for winning percentage when losing the first set, now 45.5% (70-84); Sharapova is next (38.5%) followed by Venus Williams (34.7%). The victory didn't just give Williams her 48th WTA title, it also made her the standalone leader for career titles at the Sony Open Tennis, this being her sixth - she also won it in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2008 (Steffi Graf won the tournament five times, in 1987, 1988, 1994, 1995 and 1996). Williams is also just the fourth player ever to win any WTA event six times - Martina Navratilova has done it at 10 tournaments, Steffi Graf at six tournaments and Chris Evert at four tournaments. "It's obviously been a really nice month," Sharapova said at the trophy ceremony. "It's disappointing to end it like this but Serena played a great match, and I'm sure we'll play a few more times this year." "Maria definitely pushed me - she did a really great job today," Williams said. "Like she said, I look forward to our next matches - it's going to be really fun for the fans and for us and for everyone." And though she barely missed in the second half of the match, Williams did fumble the second half of her acceptance speech. "It's so good to be No.6 now," she said. "I mean... the sixth time. Oh gosh." Sharapova fell to 0-5 in finals in Miami, having also been runner-up in 2005 (to Kim Clijsters), 2006 (to Svetlana Kuznetsova), 2011 (to Victoria Azarenka) and 2012 (to Agnieszka Radwanska). |
Re: Murray And Serena Win Miami Title by luvmijeje(f): 10:28pm On Mar 31, 2013 |
One point from defeat in the last set, the Scotsman skipped a forehand off the baseline to stay in the match. Ferrer appealed the call but lost, and he battled leg cramps in the tiebreaker. "I don't think either of us played our best tennis," Murray said. "There was a lot of breaks and ups and downs, quite a lot of mistakes from both of us. But what I did do was fight hard." Murray also won the title in 2009. His path to this year's championship was made easier because Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal skipped the tournament and Novak Djokovic lost in the fourth round. Murray made a breakthrough last year by winning an Olympic gold medal and his first Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open. He'll now move ahead of Federer to No. 2 in the rankings behind Djokovic. The No. 3-seeded Ferrer, who was seeking the biggest title of his career, fell to 0-13 against top- five players in finals. Spaniards are 0-6 in the Key Biscayne men's final, with Nadal losing three of those matches. But Murray sang the praises of Ferrer, a frequent practice partner. "He's one of the best players in the world," Murray said. "Every time I play against him, people expect me to win. I say it's so tough against him. He has a great attitude and is a great fighter." Murray has a home 15 minutes from the tournament site, near downtown Miami, and spends three months a year in South Florida. But the sellout crowd was firmly behind Ferrer. "Playing here in Miami is like when I play in Spain," Ferrer said during the trophy ceremony to a roar from his rooters. "I'm sorry," he added, managing a chuckle. "I'm so sorry. One point. Next time." Playing in sunny, 80- degree weather, Murray and Ferrer were both drained in the third set, which started with six consecutive service breaks. "It was so tough physically and mentally that you were just trying to play each point," Murray said. Murray was a point from defeat serving at 5-6. When he hit a forehand on the line, Ferrer stopped to challenge the call. A panting Murray leaned on his racket while replay confirmed the ruling to make the score deuce. "That's the beauty of the challenge system," Murray said. "In some matches, it would have been over. Luckily it just dropped in." He won the game to hold two points later, then raced to a 4-0 lead in the tiebreaker. At 4-1, a grinding exchange ended with Ferrer pulling a backhand wide, and he then collapsed to the concrete from cramps. Ferrer limped through the final two points. When Murray hit a return winner for the victory, he quickly dropped his racket, eager to call it a day. The two finalists then met at the net to trade weary pats on the back. Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press |
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