PETE ZIEBRON
World #4 Aga Radwanska of Poland Pete Ziebron Images
World #4 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland defeated world # 2 Maria Sharapova 7-5 6-4 to win the Sony Ericsson Open today in Miami. Radwanska improved to 2-7 against Sharapova and to 26-4 in 2012.
In fact, Radwanska is 26-0 against the WTA field, with the exception of world #1 Victoria Azarenka, whom she has yet to beat in 4 attempts this year. The victory was Radwanska's 9th title of her career and 2nd of the year, as she also won last month in Dubai. Since last August, Radwanska has appeared in 5 Finals and has won all of them.
In today's match, Radwanska held serve throughout the Final, hit 1 ace, had a 71% first serve percentage and staved off all 3 break points. Following the match, Radwanska acknowledged that her ability to serve well was the difference: "I was trying from the beginning to focus on my serve. Maria is a good returner. I think I did a good job today and the serve was the key to the match."
World #2 Maria Sharapova Pete Ziebron Images
Maria Sharapova has appeared in the Final of the 3 biggest tournaments thus far in 2012: the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami. However she has not been able to win a set in any of these Finals and has only managed to win 17 games compared to the 36 her opponents have won against her in the title matches.
Today, Sharapova attempted to win her first title in Miami as she appeared in the Final for the 4th time. However, Sharapova dropped serve as she tried to take the first set into a tiebreaker at 5-6 and once again in the 2nd set as she attempted to stay in the match at 4-5.
Agnieszka Radwanska did not drop a set throughout the tournament and defeated 3-time Champion Venus Williams in the semifinals. She will now head into the clay court season, playing next week in Charleston, SC.
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