Tennis' great rivalry that never was ended in its usual
fashion when Serena Williams ended
up crushing her old sparring partner Maria Sharapova.
Williams reached the semi-final of the Australian Open by
scoring her eighteenth consecutive victory over the Russian with a 6-4 6-1 that
quickly unravelled to end after an hour and 32 minutes.
The repeat of last year's high class final was less
competitive this time, with Williams eventually overwhelming Sharapova on a hot
Australia Day afternoon at Melbourne Park.
From the start, where Serena kept her waiting for the ball
toss, there were all sorts of mind games going on with the subliminal message
from the American that she was in control.
Sharapova's serve has been in excellent nick this
tournament, but nobody returns it as well as the 34-year-old world number one,
who kept up the pressure in the first set to win a real tug of war.
Williams's serve was actually a big determining factor in
the match, and it delivered thirteen aces as she eased ahead in the second.
The American summoned on the trainer twice, seemingly to
dispense some painkillers, but it did not seem to hinder her performance. As
ever Sharapova did not lack for motivation and fought until the very end, but
to her evident frustration she cannot seem to dislodge Williams.
The top seed came into the tournament with huge doubts over
her after a long layoff, but normal service has been quickly resumed and she
now faces fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1
6-3.
Williams said: 'It was super intense. She's an incredibly
intense and focused player who was No 1 and has won so many Grand Slams for a
reason.
'When you are playing someone like that who is so great, you
have to come out with a lot of fire and intensity.'
On her semi-final opponent Radwanska, Williams
said: 'She's a great defender and a great girl, so regardless whoever gets
to the final it will be a great thing. I'm going to do my best, I have nothing
to lose.'
And Williams explained later that she had been contending
with an upset stomach in recent days, and cursed her relatively slow start.
'I just started slow. I missed three or four easy shots. I
felt like, All right, I didn't make those shots, but if I had made those shots
I probably would have won that game.
'I just clung onto that and knew I could play better. I was
a little lethargic. It was maybe just getting out to a faster start like I had
been in all the rest of my matches. I was just dealing with some food poisoning
issues from a few days ago. That was it.'
With mailonline
