Posted on 09/10/2006 1:32:15 AM PDT by beyond the sea
NEW YORK - Maria Sharapova began the U.S. Open with as much buzz about her sponsorships as her strokes, as much talk about her getups as her game.
She's long insisted she's more about substance than style, though, and now she owns a second Grand Slam title to prove it.
Better on the biggest points all night, the third-seeded Sharapova beat No. 2 Justine Henin-Hardenne 6-4, 6-4 in the U.S. Open final Saturday to add a follow-up championship to her breakthrough title at Wimbledon in 2004.
"I experienced it two years ago, and I knew that I wasn't done," Sharapova said. "I had a lot more in me."
What Sharapova had on this night was a lot more force on nearly every shot, from groundstrokes to serves to returns. She faced only one break point all match, broke Henin-Hardenne three times, and compiled a 20-15 edge in winners.
"She's been a real fighter tonight," said Henin-Hardenne, who would have moved up to No. 1 with a victory. "The better player won tonight."
Quite a concession from the Belgian, who leads the tour this season in matches won (54), Grand Slam matches won (25) and tournament titles (five). She was the first woman since Martina Hingis in 1997 to reach a year's four major finals.
"She didn't give me a lot of opportunities," Henin-Hardenne said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
;-)
That's fabulous.
Nice to see she's wearing that bathing suit I gave her.
;-)
Ping for when my wife's not sitting at the computer behind me! :)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
