Sharapova reaches Australian Open final
26/01/2012
Tennis fans planning to enjoy Wimbledon hospitality this summer may be looking forward to seeing the best of Maria Sharapova after the 24-year-old reached her fifth career Grand Slam final at the Australian Open.
Sharapova saw off second seed Petra Kvitova 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in their semi-final at the Melbourne tournament to set up a chance of winning her fourth major title in the showpiece event on Saturday (January 28th).
The Russian-born star got the better of her opponent despite double-faulting ten times in the match, including five in the second set alone.
Speaking after the victory, Sharapova revealed she felt Kvitova was on top throughout the deciding set and had to dig deep to get the win.
"I just told myself, 'You just gotta go for it; don't let her finish off the points like she likes to'," she explained.
In the men's side of the tournament, Rafael Nadal bagged himself a spot in the final after battling back from one set down to beat Roger Federer.