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2012 Tournament Results Tournament (Seed) Surface Round Opponent W/L Score Australian Open (4) Hard First Round Gisela Dulko W 6-0, 6-1 Jan 15-Jan 28 Second Round Jamie Hampton W 6-0, 6-1 Third Round Angelique Kerber (30) W 6-1, 6-2 Fourth Round Sabine Lisicki (14) W 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 Quarterfinals Ekaterina Makarova W 6-2, 6-3 Semifinals Petra Kvitova (2) W 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 Final Victoria Azarenka (3) L 3-6, 0-6 ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- Open GDF SUEZ Hard Second Round Chanelle Scheepers W 6-3, 6-1 Feb 6-Feb 12 Videos: Sports News NEWS (Click Here to submit news, articles & rumors) Kerber sets up Sharapova showdown in Paris (2/9/12) Maria Sharapova will face Angelique Kerber for a place in the WTA Paris Open semi-finals, after the German ninth seed beat Romania's Monica Niculescu 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to reach the last eight on Thursday. Sharapova, the top seed, booked her place in the quarter-finals with a straightforward 6-3, 6-1 defeat of South Africa's Chanelle Scheepers at the indoor tournament on Wednesday. With Li Na and Jelena Jankovic having both withdrawn through injury, the Russian's biggest challenge is likely to come from French second seed Marion Bartoli, who tackles Croatian Petra Martic later on Thursday. A semi-finalist at last year's French Open, Bartoli is the last Frenchwoman left in the draw after Pauline Parmentier lost 6-3, 6-0 to 21-year-old German qualifier Mona Barthel on Thursday. Should Bartoli overcome Martic, she will face Italian seventh seed Roberta Vinci, who overcame a second-set slump to defeat American qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. Sharapova reaches Open GDF Suez quarters (2/8/12) Top-seeded Maria Sharapova beat Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa 6-3, 6-1 Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals of the Open GDF Suez. Sharapova broke for a 4-3 lead in the first set and twice more in the second, clinching the victory when Scheepers netted a backhand. In first-round matches, American qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands finished off Kristina Barrois of Germany with her 10th ace to secure a 7-6 (3), 6-2 win. Barrois rallied from a 4-1 deficit to force a tiebreaker. But Mattek-Sands won six straight points to take the first set and then broke Barrois twice in the second. Mattek-Sands will next play seventh-seeded Roberta Vinci, who beat Simona Halep of Romania 6-4, 6-4. Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic and Monica Niculescu of Romania also advanced, along with French wild card Pauline Parmentier and American teenager Christina McHale. Parmentier jumped out to 3-0 in the final set and hit a backhand cross-court winner to edge eighth-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. The Frenchwoman had 31 winners to only 15 for Medina Garrigues. Niculescu outlasted Jarmila Gajdosova of Australia 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in an erratic match of 14 service breaks. Zakopalova cruised past French wild card Alize Cornet 6-3, 6-1 by winning eight straight games to lead 5-0 in the second set. McHale beat lucky loser Varvara Lepchenko 6-4, 7-5 in an all-American match and will face Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium. Wickmayer led 6-1 in her first-round match when American veteran Jill Craybas retired because of a right leg injury. Sharapova sets sights on London Olympics (2/6/12) Maria Sharapova is making the London Olympics one of her top priorities this year after missing the Beijing Games with an injury. The third-ranked Russian has won three Grand Slam titles but has never competed at the Olympics. “Representing my country there will be a huge honor for me,” Sharapova said. “I’m really looking forward to the grass season. Wimbledon is a big goal every single year. And obviously, two weeks later coming into the Olympics, which I’ve never been a part of in my career—something that I’ve wanted to do and be a part of since I was a young kid. In Russia, as an athlete, that was the biggest dream, the biggest goal.” Sharapova missed the 2008 Beijing Olympics because of a shoulder injury. Despite losing 6-3, 6-0 to Victoria Azarenka last month in a lopsided Grand Slam final, Sharapova hopes her Australian Open campaign can still be a springboard for winning another major title this year. “I didn’t play competitively for a few months, and coming in with an injury in the ankle, to have that result in Australia was personally quite big,” Sharapova said. Sharapova hurt her left ankle in September at the Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo. The injury forced her to withdraw from the China Open and later the WTA Championships in Istanbul after two losses. “Getting to the final is a step forward toward where I want to get,” Sharapova said. “Obviously, you want to be the one holding the trophy, but it doesn’t always work out that way. “A little luck at times and eventually belief, and it happens. It doesn’t come at once, it takes a lot of time and development. As far as this year, I still have many opportunities to hopefully achieve that.” She is competing in the Open GDF Suez for the first time this week. Fed Cup: Russia advances with 3-2 win over Spain (2/5/12) Russia advanced to the Fed Cup World Group semifinals with a 3-2 win over Spain on Sunday in their first-round series. Svetlana Kuznetsova clinched the victory with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win against Silvia Soler-Espinosa in the second reverse singles. Maria Sharapova and Kuznetsova easily won their opening singles matches on Saturday, but Carla Suarez Navarro narrowed the gap when she routed Nadia Petrova 6-0, 6-3 in the first reverse singles on the hard court at the Olympic indoor stadium. Nuria Llagostera Vives and Arantxa Parra Santonja won the doubles match for Spain when the Russian duo of Kuznetsova and Petrova retired because of Kuznetsova’s fatigue. Russia will host either Belgium or Serbia in the semifinals on April 21-22. Russia 2 Spain 0 - Fed Cup first round latest (2/4/12) Fed Cup first round scores between Russia and Spain in Moscow on Saturday (* denotes new result) Russia lead Spain 2-0 * Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) beat Carla Suarez Navarro (Spain) 6-3 6-1 Maria Sharapova (Russia) beat Silvia Soler Espinosa (Spain) 6-2 6-1 Sharapova leads Russia against Spain in Fed Cup (2/3/12) Three-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova will play Silvia Soler-Espinosa in the opening singles match Saturday when Russia hosts Spain in the first round of the Fed Cup. Two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova will face Carla Suarez Navarro in the second match. “I’m satisfied with the draw,” Sharapova said. “I wanted to play in the first match and I’m happy I will.” It will be Sharapova’s third appearance for Russia. The Australian Open runner-up won both her singles matches against Israel in 2008 but lost in opening singles against France last year. Russia is the clear favorite to win but Sharapova refused to underestimate the opponent. “Last season, we were favorites against France at the same stage of the competition but fell 2-0 down after the opening singles,” Sharapova said. “We were lucky to win in the end.” In Sunday’s reverse singles, Sharapova will play Suarez Navarro, while Kuznetsova will take on Soler-Espinosa. In the doubles match, the Russian pair of Nadia Petrova and Ekaterina Makarova will play Nuria Llagostera Vives and Arantxa Parra Santonja. The reverse singles and doubles pairings in the best-of-five series on the indoor hard court at the Olympic indoor stadium can be changed depending on the results of earlier matches. Russia has won the Fed Cup title four times since 2004 and is 5-1 against Spain, which won the title five times between 1991 and 1998. The winner will play Belgium or Serbia in the semifinals April 21-22. Azarenka No. 1, other rankings shift in WTA (1/28/12) Victoria Azeranka’s win over Maria Sharapova in the Australian Open final on Saturday elevated her to No. 1 and also forced a shift in the women’s top 10 rankings. Azarenka moved from No. 3 to No. 1, passing Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who will remain at No. 2 after her loss in the semifinals. The 22-year-old Belarusian is the 21st player to hold the No. 1 spot since computer rankings were introduced in 1975. The WTA said Saturday that rankings which will take effect Monday show Sharapova moving up one spot to third and Caroline Wozniacki, who held the No. 1 ranking for nearly 67 weeks before losing in the quarterfinals to Kim Clijsters, dropping to fourth. U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur, who lost in the first round, moves up one spot to fifth despite the poor result at her home major, while Agnieszka Radwanska is a career-high No. 6. Marion Bartoli of France moves up two spots to a career-best seventh, while Vera Zvonareva is No. 8, French Open champion Li Na drops four spots to No. 9 and Andrea Petkovic, who withdrew from the Australian Open due to a stress fracture in her back, stays at No. 10. Li dropped from fifth after she lost in the fourth round to defending champion Clijsters. The Chinese star had a high number of ranking points to defend as a finalist last year. Clijsters, who lost in the semifinals to Azarenka this year, is projected to drop to about 30th from No. 11. Serena Williams, who lost in the fourth round, will remain at No. 12. “I’ve been loving coming to Australia since I was a junior, and I’ve had an amazing month and this is a dream come true,” Azarenka said She had a 55-17 win-loss record in 2011, winning three titles and finishing runner-up in two others. She started 2012 strongly, defeating three top 10 players in a row en route to her ninth career singles title at the Sydney International. She remains undefeated in 2012 with a 12-0 record. She is the third player to achieve the top ranking directly after claiming a first Grand Slam singles title: Martina Navratilova moved to No. 1 after winning Wimbledon in 1978 and Ana Ivanovic took top spot after winning the 2008 French Open. Azarenka routs Sharapova to win Australian title (1/28/12) Victoria Azarenka started celebrating, then suddenly did a double-take to ask her coach, “What happened?” The answer: She had just produced one of the most lopsided Australian Open final victories to capture a Grand Slam title and the No. 1 ranking for the first time. Azarenka routed three-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-0 in 1 hour, 22 minutes on Saturday night, winning 12 of the last 13 games after dropping her first service game and falling behind 2-0. “It’s a dream come true,” she said. “I have been dreaming and working so hard to win the Grand Slam, and being No. 1 is pretty good bonus. Just the perfect ending and the perfect position to be in.” Azarenka had won 11 straight matches, including a run to the Sydney International title, and reached her first Grand Slam final. Her previous best performance at a major was a semifinal loss to Petra Kvitova at Wimbledon last year. Sharapova had all the experience, being in her sixth major final and having won three—dating to her 2004 Wimbledon title. But it didn’t unnerve the 22-year-old Azarenka, the first woman from Belarus to win a singles major. She’s also the seventh different woman to win a Grand Slam since Francesca Schiavone won the 2010 French Open, and the fifth different winner in as many majors. Azarenka became only the third woman to earn the No. 1 spot after winning her first major title. She moved from No. 3 to No. 1 in the rankings, helped by Caroline Wozniacki’s loss in the quarterfinals. The third-seeded Azarenka set up championship point with a stunning forehand, her 14th clean winner, and sealed it when Sharapova netted a backhand. She dropped to her knees at the baseline with her hands over her face. She got up, held her hands up and jogged over to her coach, Sam Sumyk, in the stands to celebrate. “The best feeling, for sure,” Azarenka said. “I don’t know about the game. I don’t know what I was doing out there. It’s just pure joy what happened. I can’t believe it’s over.” And she paid special credit to her grandmother, “the person who inspires me the most in my life.” Azarenka has been a distinctive presence at Melbourne Park as much for her shrieks and hoots with each shot and seemingly boundless energy as for her white shorts, blue singlet and lime green head and wrist bands. Against Sharapova, she maintained the frenetic movement that has been the hallmark of her performance in Australia, her 25th consecutive major. She won the Sydney International title last weekend and is on a 12-match winning streak — the first player since 2004 to win a WTA tour event the week before winning a major. “She did everything better than I did today. I had a good first couple of games, and that was about it,” Sharapova said. “Then she was the one that was taking the first ball and hitting it deep and aggressive. I was always the one running around like a rabbit, you know, trying to play catch-up all the time.” Sharapova also won only three games in a 2007 final loss to Serena Williams, who also conceded only three games in the 2009 final against Dinara Safina. When Sharapova won the first two games, there was no indication of how lopsided the match would be. Azarenka took control after holding for the first time, breaking Sharapova at love and then holding again on a three-game roll. Sharapova held, finishing off with an ace, to level the score at 3-3 in the first set but then didn’t win another game. Azarenka started dictating the points, coming to the net at times, hitting winners from the baseline and forcing the 24-year-old Russian to the extremes on both sides of the court. Sharapova seemed barely able to move by comparison, and had 30 unforced errors in the match. The second set was completely lopsided and lasted only 36 minutes, with Sharapova winning only 12 points. “As in any sport, you have your good days, you have your tough days and you have days where things just don’t work out,” said Sharapova, who has now been on the losing end of two of the most lopsided scorelines in a final at Melbourne Park. Australian Open women's finalists (1/27/12) Brief biographies of the women’s finalists at the 2012 Australian Open on Saturday (prefix denotes seeding): - - - - Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) Age: 22 Seeded: Three Playing her first grand slam final, the previously hot-headed Belarusian admits to still having “meltdowns” but has tempered her behaviour. Left home in Minsk at the age of 14 to train in Arizona. A tall, powerful right-hander, she is the first female grand slam finalist from Belarus since Natasha Zvereva reached the final at Roland Garros in 1988. Had been an inconsistent performer at grand slam level until 2011 when she made the French Open quarter-finals and semi-finals at Wimbledon, losing to eventual champion Petra Kvitova. Also lost the WTA Championships final to Kvitova in Istanbul and finished the year ranked third behind the Czech and top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki. Has barely been tested on her run to the semi-finals at Melbourne Park where she had to fight off champion Kim Clijsters, who had momentum in the third set. Will rise to number two in the rankings no matter what the result but could be number one if she wins. Would be the third woman (after Evonne Goolagong-Cawley and Chris O’Neil) to have won the junior (2005) and senior titles at the Australian Open. Path to the final: 1st round - beat Heather Watson (Britain) 6-1 6-0 2nd round - beat Casey Dellacqua (Australia) 6-1 6-0 3rd round - beat Mona Barthel (Germany) 6-2 6-4 4th round - beat Iveta Benesova (Czech Republic) 6-2 6-2 QF - beat 8-Agneiska Radwanska (Poland) 6-7 6-0 6-2 SF - beat 11-Kim Clijsters (Belgium) 6-4 1-6 6-3 - - Maria Sharapova (Russia) Age: 24 Seeded: Four Grand Slam titles: 3 (Wimbledon 2004; U.S. Open 2006: Australian Open 2008) The tall Russian burst onto the scene as a 17-year-old winning Wimbledon before she picked up two more grand slam titles and looked to have the world at her feet. Had to undergo shoulder surgery in 2008, however, and her serve has lacked the same venom she once had. Rediscovered her consistency in 2011, making the French Open semi-finals and Wimbledon final, where she lost to Kvitova. Had to withdraw from the season-ending WTA Championships with an ankle injury that effected her buildup to the Australian Open. Like Azarenka, has barely been tested until the semi-finals, when she faced Kvitova and needed to fight back from a break down in the final set, though Germany’s Sabine Lisicki gave her a fright in the fourth round with her aggressive groundstrokes. Could reclaim the world’s top ranking if she wins the tournament. Path to the final: 1st round - beat Gisela Dulko (Argentina) 6-0 6-1 2nd round - beat Jamie Hampton (U.S.) 6-0 6-1 3rd round - beat 30-Angelique Kerber (Germany) 6-1 6-2 4th round - beat 14-Sabine Lisicki (Germany) 3-6 6-2 6-3 QF - beat Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) 6-2 6-3 SF - beat Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) 6-2 3-6 6-4 Women's finalists play down experience factor (1/27/12) Victoria Azarenka refuses to accept that Maria Sharapova’s greater experience could be the defining factor when they meet in the Australian Open women’s final on Saturday. The 22-year-old Belarusian will be playing her first major final while Sharapova will step out on Rod Laver Arena for a third title showdown in Australia and sixth overall in grand slams. Sharapova has won three of those grand slam finals, at Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and at Melbourne Park in 2008 but little else separates the pair in terms of statistics. They have meet six times in the past, with a 3-3 record. Four of those matches have been on hard courts, where the record is 2-2. Azarenka, however, has a 2-0 record in finals, both on U.S. hardcourts, at Stanford in 2010 and Miami in 2011. The power hitting duo are both unbeaten so far this year, with Sharapova preferring to rest an ankle injury than play a warmup tournament before the Australian Open, while Azarenka swept to the Sydney title. At Melbourne Park, Azarenka has played 113 games and has a 79-34 record. Sharapova has played 111 (78-33). Both have won 12 sets while losing two, while Sharapova has spent a cumulative nine hours, 23 minutes on court, 21 minutes longer than the third seed. “In finals anything can happen. It’s different stage of a tournament,” Azarenka said on Friday. “It’s a battle for giving really your all and how well you can manage it. “I don’t really want to take the back experience. Of course I know Maria’s game; she knows my game. So it’s going to be a little bit of a similarity there. “But I mean, it’s going to be a different match (and a) whole different approach. “We always had difficult matches, so really looking forward to that battle. It’s not going to be easy.” NO STRESS Azarenka, who wears a ‘hoodie’ sweatshirt and buries herself in her personal music player immediately prior to her matches said she was extending that kind of isolation towards the final. “I think she’s a very tough opponent. She’s been in the finals here, she won here, so definitely she has a lot of experience (but)… it’s no concern for me. “I worked hard to be in this situation, so why stress about it? I want it and that’s what I’m looking for, so I’m just going to go out there and try to do my best.” Sharapova had to battle to beat world number two Petra Kvitova in the semi-finals, but was also downplaying any experiential advantages she may have, particularly since many had expected her to beat the Czech in last year’s Wimbledon final. “I played Petra in her first grand slam final. She played really high quality tennis out there on the grass and she went out there and it didn’t really affect her,” Sharapova said. “So even though Victoria hasn’t really been in that stage of a grand slam before, she’s certainly won big titles and she has the experience. “This is a stage she’s wanted to be at for a long time, so I do expect her to play really good tennis.” The Russian has returned to the top of women’s’ tennis after shoulder reconstruction surgery in 2008 and like Azarenka, could take the top ranking if she wins the title, though Sharapova was more interested in taking home the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup. “Personally, for me, it’s more about the grand slam win than the number one ranking. This is obviously what I train for and why I go out on the court and try to improve for moments like this. “You have them four times a year, and these are the big ones for us, the important ones. “That’s just always been the goal for me.” Sharapova, Azarenka play for title, No. 1 ranking (1/26/12) The age gap only two years, the difference in experience is vast between Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka. Sharapova will play her sixth Grand Slam final at the Australian Open on Saturday against Azarenka, who is making her debut. And it isn’t just a major title on the line—the winner will claim the No. 1 ranking. Four years after winning the last of her three major titles and approaching eight years since she lifted the Wimbledon trophy at 17, Sharapova has another chance to add to her Grand Slam haul. “It means so much to be back in a Grand Slam final,” Sharapova said. “It’s nice to get that far again after losing quite early in the last couple of years.” Now 24, Sharapova has already been on tour long enough to experience the ups and downs of tennis. After winning the Australian Open in 2008, she underwent shoulder surgery that took her out of the game for nine months. It took much longer for her to get back to her peak, and she lost at the Australian Open before the quarterfinals on her last two visits. She reached the Wimbledon final last year, but lost to Petra Kvitova—the player she beat in Thursday’s semifinals. “With the shoulder, I knew some examples of some people that did not quite recover from surgery and that was a little frightening, but I really had no option,” she said. “Of course it took a long time and it was a process, but it was just something that was in my steps that I had to go through. And I did.” Azarenka worked on her fitness in the offseason, giving her the confidence to know she can play “as long as I need.” Azarenka may take added confidence from two previous wins over Sharapova in hardcourt finals in Stanford and Miami. They share a 3-3 record overall. “She’s a really, really good player, and I haven’t had great success against her in the last couple of events that we’ve played against each other,” Sharapova said. “I’d really like to change that. It will be important to tactically play right. She makes you hit a lot of balls and she’s aggressive as well.” The Florida-based Russian often speaks like a veteran of the game—and she showed her experience in dealing with the media in the way she swatted away persistent questions about her grunting when she hits the ball. “No one important enough has told me to change or do something different,” she said after her quarterfinal win. “I’ve answered it many times before. I’m sure I’ll answer it many more times ahead. I’m OK with that.” Two of the noisiest players in the women’s game go head-to-head in the final. The WTA says its looking at ways to reduce the practice, which it acknowledges has become “bothersome” for some fans. Any action is likely to start with younger players. Sharapova and Azarenka say it has been part of their game as youngsters, and neither has any intention of changing. Azarenka’s high-pitched hooting has been mimicked by the crowd at times during her Australian Open run, but the 22-year-old Belarusian has maintained her composure. By beating defending champion Kim Clijsters in the semifinals, the third-seeded Azarenka took her winning streak to 11 matches after claiming the Sydney International title before the Australian Open. Like Sharapova, Azarenka has dropped two sets in Melbourne, including one against Clijsters in the semifinals. It could have been much worse against the Belgian. Leading 4-2 against the four-time Grand Slam champion and crowd favorite, Azarenka was broken back after holding five game points. No problem. She broke right back and after a nervy double-fault on her first match point, closed out the win. She said her ability to finish off the match against Clijsters is because of hard work and experience. “Even if you believe 1 million percent, it’s not going to happen,” Azarenka said. “It’s a lot of hard work. Those details, that confidence that you get from the tennis match makes you believe.” The Azarenka-Sharapova final means there won’t be a No. 1 without a Grand Slam title to her name—the case with Caroline Wozniacki, who lost the top ranking with her quarterfinal defeat by Clijsters. For Azarenka, the ranking is still a goal. She said after her fourth-round win she would be “lying” if she said it wasn’t on her mind. Sharapova, the veteran of three previous spells at No. 1, only wants to add to her trophy collection. “Having been in the position before, doesn’t really (add anything to the final) to me,” Sharapova said. “I think personally, for me, it’s more about the Grand Slam win than the No. 1 ranking. “That’s just always been the goal for me.” Sharapova hangs tough to make Melbourne final (1/26/12) Maria Sharapova stood, looked at the players’ box, slammed both of her fists down in celebration and let out an almighty roar of “Come on!” The world number four had just saved two break points and been taken to deuce four times before eventually holding serve at 4-3 in the third set against second seed Petra Kvitova in their Australian Open semi-final on Thursday. That game proved the pivotal one in a 6-2 3-6 6-4 victory over the Czech that swept Sharapova into her third final at Melbourne Park against Victoria Azarenka. “You know, she had so many opportunities in that third set, and I just hung on,” the 24-year-old told reporters. “There were so many games where it was 15-40, love-30 on my serve, and actually on those points … I hit some really good second serves. “I think she wanted to step in and maybe go for it, and I was smart about that.” The Russian needed all her experience against Kvitova, who beat her in last year’s Wimbledon final, after the left-hander roared back into the match by taking the second set. Neither woman was able to hold serve in the opener when playing into the wind, Sharapova converting all three of her break points, seizing a set lead after the Czech missed backhand. FAST PACE “In the first set I felt like my pace hurt her a bit,” Sharapova said. “I was just really aggressive. I didn’t give her a chance to really step in and do what she does really well.” Kvitova relaxed in the second set and raced to a 3-0 lead and put three-times grand slam winner Sharapova under constant pressure on her serve. The Czech set up a deciding set with an ace down the centre line and when she broke Sharapova for 2-1 she let out a loud yelp of celebration. Her joy was short-lived, Sharapova broke back immediately and after weathering pressure in the fifth game and heavy fire in the crucial seventh, nosed ahead at 5-4. Kvitova’s game then fell apart when serving to stay in the match, double-faulting and then committing three unforced errors to gift-wrap Sharapova victory. “In the whole third set she was serving quite well and I didn’t feel like I had too many good looks on returns,” Sharapova said. “In the third set, that last game of the third, I really managed to get some returns back.” Sharapova to lead Russia in Fed Cup vs Spain (1/25/12) Maria Sharapova will lead Russia against Spain in the Fed Cup next month. Sharapova will make her third appearance for Russia. The three-time Grand Slam champion won both of her singles matches against Israel in 2008. She lost in opening singles against France last year. Russia captain Shamil Tarpischev also selected two-time Grand Slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 31 Nadia Petrova and Australian Open quarterfinalist Ekaterina Makarova for the Feb. 4-5 best-of-five series on the indoor hard court at the Olympic Arena in Moscow. Russia has won the Fed Cup title four times since 2004. Russia is 5-1 against Spain, which won the title five times between 1991 and 1998. Dominant Sharapova sets up Kvitova revenge match (1/25/12) Russia's Maria Sharapova booked her spot in the last four of the Australian Open on Wednesday with a surprisingly straightforward 6-2 6-3 win over compatriot Ekaterina Makarova. Makarova had stunned five-times champion Serena Williams in the fourth round but her performance against the world number four was a major let down as Sharapova closed out the win in a little under 90 minutes. She will now get the chance to avenge her 2011 Wimbledon final defeat to Petra Kvitova after the Czech bounced Italian Sara Errani out in their earlier quarter-final encounter. "I thought she was going to play really well today coming off a big win, probably her biggest in her career," Sharapova said. "It was just really important for me to not give her much of a look at the open court." Sharapova, who won the last of her three grand slams at Melbourne Park in 2008, swarmed all over Makarova's weak second serve and routinely swatted them back faster than they came at her. The Melbourne Park crowd have given fellow primal screamer Victoria Azarenka a hard time throughout the tournament but they were more forgiving of the Sharapova shrieks, which assaulted eardrums anywhere in the vicinity of Rod Laver Arena. Sharapova had too much juice on her serve for Makarova to return with any venom and the former number one faced just two break points in the match. One of those break points came with a 4-2 lead in the first set, but Sharapova averted the danger with an ace then crushed a forehand winner to take a three-game lead and broke Makarova again to seal the set. GRAND SLAM PRIORITY Makarova was more successful on her second break point early in the second set, keeping the ball alive long enough to bang a backhand across court and go 2-1 up. However, with Makarova unable to get enough first serves in, Sharapova pounced on the weaker second serve to break straight back and went on to win the next three games. Sharapova put the match away in the ninth game, forcing her opponent into another error from the baseline. World number one Caroline Wozniacki's exit from the tournament at the hands of Kim Clijsters means Sharapova, Kvitova or Azarenka will claim the top ranking by the end of the year's first grand slam. Sharapova said winning grand slams were her priority. "I think I've been fortunate enough to be in that position before. I think the girls that are trying to get that position haven't been in that position before," she said. "It's a little bit different because I feel like I've experienced both things in my career, winning grand slams and being number one in the world. You can't compare the two. "I try to improve in order to win grand slams. The more grand slams you win, the better your ranking is going to be." Sharapova battles through after Lisicki scare (1/23/12) Maria Sharapova hammered her way into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Monday but only after some tense moments in a third-set decider when Germany’s Sabine Lisicki had her hanging on by her finger nails. The fourth-seeded Russian had to blunt the powerful ground strokes and blistering service returns of the 14th seeded Lisicki and fought off five break points in the third game of the final set to turn the match her way. The Russian’s confidence grew enough for her to break Lisicki’s serve in the sixth game of the set, which essentially sealed the victory and she ran out a 3-6 6-2 6-3 winner. The 24-year-old had walked onto Rod Laver Arena a heavy favourite having conceded just five games in her previous three matches and spent only three hours, 29 minutes on court. In contrast, Lisicki had been hampered by an abdominal injury that forced her to withdraw from the Auckland Classic quarter-finals and out of Sydney altogether. Knowing that old rival Serena Williams would not be waiting for her in the quarter-finals after the American was bundled out earlier by Ekaterina Makarova, Sharapova raced out to a 3-0 lead and seemed destined for another early night. Lisicki, however, finally found her range and reeled off six successive games to win the first set when Sharapova blasted a backhand service return well over the baseline. A nervous looking Sharapova, well aware that if she did not stop the momentum she would be joining Williams on an early flight home, was in danger of losing her first service game of the second set before she attacked the net twice and managed to fight off the German and hold serve. She then began to control the pace of the match, stopping Lisicki’s high-paced game to seal the second set in 42 minutes. “She’s a really solid player,” Sharapova said of Lisicki, who she beat in last year’s Wimbledon semi-finals. “If you play to her strengths, if you give her time that’s what she really does best, she gets a good strike on the ball and can hit a good winner from any side of the court. “But obviously I was trying to create those opportunities where maybe she had to go for a little bit more and force the errors out of her.” Lisicki attacked Sharapova’s serve in the third set and held five break points in the third game before Sharapova slammed a forehand winner to hold and screeched a loud “Come On” before she broke Lisicki in the sixth game that gave her the momentum to win. “I think it (when Sharapova held serve) was quite important, but also the game where she broke me,” Lisicki said. “It was very close, the entire match. When the match is that close, really every single point counts at that moment. “I thought it was a very good game. Unfortunately she made some great serves in the third set when I had breakpoints (and there was) not much I could do there at that moment. “But I kept fighting until the very last point, and unfortunately it wasn’t enough.” News Archive