There was a time when Maria Sharapova’s serve struck as much terror in opponents as the prospect of a stare-down contest with Medusa. But times have changed, and while post-shoulder surgery Sharapova sometimes delivers downright ugly service games, her primal scream, potent power and fierce fighting spirit remain undiminished.
Muted in the opening set, Sharapova turned up the volume on her vicious baseline blasts and won 11 straight games to spark a 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 victory over Andrea Petkovic to storm into her third Miami final. It is Sharapova’s first final since she fell to Kim Clijsters in Cincinnati last August.
The No. 16 seed will take on the winner of tonight’s match between third-ranked Vera Zvonareva and 2009 Miami champ Victoria Azarenka on Saturday. Azarenka beat Sharapova, 6-4, 6-1, in the Stanford final last summer and a rematch between two of the tour’s supreme shriekers would be one of the loudest finals in recent memory.
Petkovic swept Sharapova in the fourth round of the Australian Open in January. Today, a warm windy day that saw temperatures reach 90 degrees with winds around 18 mph, Petkovic broke twice in first six games to take an early edge. The Bosnian-born German cracked a cross-court backhand winner to seal the first set on her fourth set point.
Having spaced out too much in the opening set, Sharapova spent the early stages of the second reminding herself to move her feet and hug the baseline. The self-coaching worked as Sharapova saved a break point in the opening game of the second set to ignite a run of 11 consecutive games.
“I wasn’t moving really well in the first set and I wasn’t adjusting to the conditions very well,” Sharapova told ESPN2. “I knew I had to be aggressive. I kind of stepped in the court a little bit and changed that around.”
The bagel set is deceptive: Petkovic had game points in all six games of the second set. By the time her coach, Peter Popovic, came out in the third to offer encouragement and rub her shoulder, a disconsolate Petkovic was already staring down a deep deficit.
A spirited player and spunky personality, the 5'11" Petkovic is a strong player but must refine some rough edges on her technique if she hopes to crack the Top 10. She has a slight hitch on her serve, which rarely exceeded 100 mph today, and she sometimes keeps her elbow so tight to her body that she jams herself on her forehand.
Sharapova, whose eight double-faults today is a significant improvement from her horrific 17 double-fault debacle in her quarterfinal conquest of Alexandra Dulgheru, will return to the Top 10 when the new rankings are released on Monday. Though her serve is still suspect, Sharapova reinforced her reputation for tenacity in tough spots: she is now 5-0 in three-setters this season, has won nine of her last 10 matches and is one win removed from her first title in 10 months.
—Richard Pagliaro