Russia's Maria Sharapova celebrates her victory over Nadia Petrova also Russia at the final of the WTA Generali Ladies Linz, Austria on Sunday Oct.29, 2006.
Photo: AP
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Sharapova to Win Madrid Championship Yet
Tournament’s top seed Maria Sharapova of Russia beat her compatriot Nadia Petrova at the Linz Open final and advanced to the second place in the WTA rankings. Mario Ancic of Croatia triumphed at the St. Petersburg Open.
Apart from the withdrawal from the Moscow Kremlin Cup on mysterious leg injury, Sharapova glitters with victories at the end of this season. Having left Russia, Maria first triumphed in Zurich and then in Linz.
In Linz, Sharapova was the final’s favorite from the very beginning. She had led 4-1 in the head-to-head contests with Petrova before the tournament. But Petrova appeared to have reached her best as well and looked apt to withstand.
Nevertheless, Petrova’s best weapon, her powerful serve, failed her against Sharapova. Even though she got her chances in the first set, when she won two set points, Petrova missed the advantage and yielded to Sharapova (5-7 2-6), who usually plays her best under the pressure.
Linz victory moved Maria into the second place in the WTA rankings, where she tails only Amelie Mauresmo now. Should Sharapova triumph at the WTA Championship in Madrid, which is slated to begin November 7, she would finish the season as the number one of the world.
As to the St. Petersburg Open, Igor Kunitsyn was the last Russian there. But he yielded to Thomas Johansson of Sweden Saturday, who lost to Mario Ancic of Croatia in the final. Victorious in St. Petersburg, the Croat advanced to the tenth place in the ATP rankings.
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All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 30, 2006
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