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Williams Powers On, To Final vs. Sharapova Williams Will Face Sharapova In Final
(about 4 hours later)
ISTANBUL — Faced with more of the best competition the professional tour has to offer, Serena Williams cruised again Saturday at the WTA Championships here. Williams, who won all three of her round-robin matches in straight sets, powered past a sluggish Agnieszka Radwanska in the semifinals, 6-2, 6-1, in a one-hour match. ISTANBUL — Faced with more of the best competition the professional tour has to offer, Serena Williams cruised again Saturday at the WTA Championships.
The third-seeded Williams will play the second-seeded Maria Sharapova in Sunday’s final. Sharapova has not defeated Williams since 2004 at this tournament, when it was in Los Angeles. Since then, Sharapova has lost eight consecutive matches to Williams, most recently a 6-0, 6-1 drubbing in the gold medal singles match at the London Olympics. Williams, who won all three of her round-robin matches in straight sets, powered past a sluggish Agnieszka Radwanska in the semifinals, 6-2, 6-1, in exactly one hour.
To reach the final, Sharapova beat the top-seeded Victoria Azarenka, 6-4, 6-2. Azarenka had beaten Sharapova on hard courts several times in 2012: in the Australian Open final, in a Beijing and in a United States Open semifinal. But Sharapova beat Azarenka in April on indoor clay and took advantage of the slower courts here to keep control of most rallies Saturday. The third-seeded Williams will play second-seeded Maria Sharapova in Sunday’s final. Sharapova, who also finished 3-0 in round-robin play, defeated top-seeded Victoria Azarenka, 6-4, 6-2, in the second semifinal.
“Of course, victories mean a lot to you,” Sharapova said. “That’s what you play for and practice for. And especially when you find yourself in a losing position a few times during this year, you want to try to figure out how to change those things around.” Sharapova won after several losses to Azarenka on hardcourts in 2012, in the finals of the Australian Open and in Beijing, and in the semifinals of the United States Open.  But Sharapova beat Azarenka in April on indoor clay, and took advantage of the slower courts here to keep control of most rallies.
Azarenka, whose final round-robin match ended early Saturday, said: “I’m not going to say that I was the freshest today. And I also don’t want to put the things to make any excuses, because that’s not really my type. I don’t like to do it. I give Maria all the credit today. She played really well and looks in great form. She deserved to win 100 percent.” In July, Radwanska forced Williams to a third set in the Wimbledon final, their only previous meeting this year. But the road that Radwanska took to Saturday’s match appeared to have exhausted any energy she might have had.
When asked about Azarenka’s fitness, Sharapova said: “Everybody is hurting at this time. Some show it more than others.” Radwanska, the fourth seed in a tournament that features the top eight women’s players in the world, played more than eight hours of tennis in her three round-robin matches; Williams played for less than five hours. Radwanska’s final round-robin match, against Sara Errani on Friday, lasted 3 hours 29 minutes, the longest best-of-three match in the history of the championships.
The one who showed the most fatigue Saturday was Radwanska, and by some distance. In July, Radwanska forced Williams to a third set in the Wimbledon final, their only previous meeting this year. But the road that Radwanska took to these semifinals appeared to have exhausted her before she took the court against Williams. Williams had Friday off, having played three consecutive days to begin the tournament.
Radwanska, the fourth seed in the tournament, which featured the top eight women’s players in the world, played more than eight hours of tennis in her three round-robin matches; Williams, who has not dropped a set in the tournament, played fewer than five hours. Radwanska’s final round-robin match, against Sara Errani on Friday, lasted 3 hours 29 minutes, the longest best-of-three match in the history of the championships. Williams had Friday off after playing three consecutive days. When asked when fatigue had started to set in during Saturday’s semifinal, Radwanska said: “Actually, yesterday. Those last two matches really killed me, especially that I didn’t have the day off. I really need that. And especially that surface. You know, it’s very sticky, so three and a half hours is a lot. I’m really tired today, and I really wanted to run, but my legs didn’t.”
Asked Saturday when she started to feel fatigued, Radwanska said: “Actually, yesterday. Those last two matches really killed me, especially that I didn’t have the day off. I really need that. And especially that surface. You know, it’s very sticky, so three and a half hours is a lot. I’m really tired today, and I really wanted to run, but my legs didn’t.” Early in the match, however, Radwanska engaged Williams in her preferred style of cat-and-mouse rallies, pulling Williams forward with low slices and drop shots. But after Radwanska broke Williams at love in the fourth game of the match to level the opening set at 2-2, Williams resolved to inject more power into her shots early in rallies, a tactic that paid quick dividends as Radwanska’s legs abandoned her.
Early in the match, however, Radwanska engaged in her preferred style of cat-and-mouse rallies, pulling Williams forward with low slices and drop shots. But after Radwanska broke Williams at love in the fourth game of the match to level the set at 2-2, Williams resolved to inject more power into her shots early in rallies, a tactic that paid quick dividends as Radwanska’s legs abandoned her. Williams finished with 39 winners, the last two coming off returns of Radwanska’s serve for the match’s final two points. Knowing well about her opponent’s workload, Williams stopped to console Radwanska at the net when they shook hands after the match.
She stopped to console Radwanska at the net when they shook hands after the match. “Just told her it was awesome that she played so well and played through another match after playing a good eight hours,” Williams said of the conversation. “It was really inspiring for me.”
“Just told her it was awesome that she played so well and played through another match after playing a good eight hours,” Williams said. “It was really inspiring for me.”
Radwanska said: “She was surprised that I really tried after those kind of matches. I’m like, yeah, this is a tournament that you just fight until the end. Of course, I knew that I’m not that fresh like I was before. I was trying, but of course Serena played too fast. I just couldn’t do anything.”Radwanska said: “She was surprised that I really tried after those kind of matches. I’m like, yeah, this is a tournament that you just fight until the end. Of course, I knew that I’m not that fresh like I was before. I was trying, but of course Serena played too fast. I just couldn’t do anything.”
REMATCH FOR FEDERER Roger Federer and Juan Martín del Potro advanced to the Swiss Indoors final in Basel, setting up a rematch of their epic semifinal at the London Olympics. Radwanska had been able to do quite a bit throughout the year, reaching her first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon and getting her ranking to a career-high No. 2. Fittingly, given the year-capping purpose of this event, the top four players in the WTA rankings had advanced to the semifinals: No. 1 Azarenka, No. 2 Sharapova, No. 3 Williams and No. 4 Radwanska.
The top-ranked Federer brushed aside Paul-Henri Mathieu, 7-5, 6-4, in the semifinals after Del Potro eased to a 6-2, 6-2 win over third-seeded Richard Gasquet. (AP) In 2012, they had combined to win all four Grand Slam championships, all four WTA premier mandatory tournaments, and all three Olympic medals in women’s singles, but this was the first time they had all reached the semifinals of the same tournament.
In the first match of the day, a doubles semifinal, the defending champions, Lisa Raymond and Liezel Huber, fell to Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, 7-6 (6), 6-1. Huber had a set point on her serve at 6-5 in the first set tiebreaker, but she double-faulted twice. Hlavackova hit a forehand winner on her pair’s ensuing set point, which left Huber crashing to the ground and shifted momentum in the match for good.
In Sunday’s doubles final, Hlavackova and Hradecka will play Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova, who defeated Errani and Roberta Vinci, 6-1, 3-6, 10-4.