Maria Will Face Serena; Kim Says Goodbye to Australia
Posted by Aaress Lawless on Jan 25, 2007 | Print
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One hundred and twenty-eight singles players have been narrowed down to just two, and who could ask for a better Championship match than a meeting between long-time rivals Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams?
Sharapova, who is the top seed at this year’s Australian Open, booked herself a spot in the Championship match with a convincing 6-4, 6-2 win over fourth seed Kim Clijsters.
Kim’s loss today marks her farewell to the people of Australia, and she will retire without ever being able to truly become “Aussie Kim” with an Australian Open singles title.
Despite the defeat, Kim took time to say farewell to the fans that have supported her for the past seven years.
“It’s been a pleasure playing here and coming to Australia every time,” said Clijsters after the match. “In a few years I’ll be sitting in the stands, maybe with some kids.”
Both players came out strong in the second semifinal of the day, but neither one of them was able to consistently hold serve. Five service breaks were exchanged until Maria finally seized the momentum to win the first set 6-4.
Kim continued to struggle with her serve heading into the second set, and Maria broke for the early 2-love lead.
Kim had no trouble winning her first four matches at this year’s event, but once she ran into Martina Hingis yesterday, her performance started to slip.
She cleaned up her errors today against Sharapova, but did not even manage to get on the scoreboard in the second set until 3-love.
By 3-1, Sharapova was starting to suffer her own serving woes with five double-faults, but Clijsters was still not able to convert her break points to level the match. Maria handed her another opportunity to break back at 4-2, but once again, recovered to force Clijsters to serve for the chance to stay in the match.
Clijsters could not hold, and a running forehand on her first match point scored Sharapova a berth in the final round of the Australian Open.
Maria’s form during the match was solid apart from her second serve, and most importantly she took advantage of coming to the net more often than usual. Being comfortable at the net not only adds to her otherwise one-dimensional game, but it will help her keep the points short against Serena in the final.
The pair have a shared a lot of high-profile matches in the past, most notably at the 2004 Wimbledon final where Maria won her first Grand Slam. One of their other classic meetings occurred just two years ago at Melbourne in the semifinals. Maria held three match points for a spot in the final at 5-4 in the third set, but Serena stormed back to not only win the match, but also the trophy over Lindsay Davenport in three sets.
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