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Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic will meet in the Australian Open tennis final after contrasting victories in their semifinals in Melbourne last night.
Russian Sharapova, seeded fifth, demolished Serb Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 6-1, while Serbian fourth seed Ivanovic recovered from a first-set whitewash to oust Daniela Hantuchova 0-6,
6-3, 6-4.
Ivanovic won just nine points in the first set and trailed 0-6, 0-2 before pulling things around.
"If it wasn't for you guys I would be booking my flight home," she told the crowd.
Men's second seed Rafael Nadal was crushed by unseeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first men's semifinal. Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are to clash in the second semifinal today.
Sharapova followed on from her quarter-final thrashing of world No 1 Justine Henin with a devastating display against third seed Jankovic.
Pounding groundstrokes into the corners and blasting serves down, she never allowed the Serb to settle on Rod Laver Arena.
The roof of the court was closed to keep the Melbourne showers out and Sharapova's shots boomed throughout the arena.
Jankovic, struggling with a lower back injury, was unable to keep up or even compete as she was left watching shots fly past her.
"I wanted to withdraw, but it was not fair for the crowd. It's a semifinal, so I played how much I could to finish the match," Jankovic said.
"I thought that Maria played very, very well, and anyway, she deserved to win. But I couldn't really give a match."
She said she would take time off tennis to heal.
"I will try to recover and get my body back in shape, because I don't like having injuries," said the third seed.
"When you get one injury, it's kind of like a chain. You get so many others because your body is trying to compensate. So I will just try to do my best and see my physios at home and try to recover."
Jankovic said she felt back pain when trailing 5-3 in the first set.
"I felt really some strange pain in my back where I felt like I was so stuck. I couldn't keep going anymore.
"I took so many painkillers," she said. "I did the best that I could. I put the creams to relieve my pain, but it was not a muscle that was the problem.
For Sharapova there is unfinished business in Melbourne after last year's final defeat.
"From the beginning of the tournament, you want to go a step further than you've done in the past. That's always your goal, and your mantra going into a tournament," the Russian said.
"In a Grand Slam where I've had good success but some tough endings as well, I still believe at the end of the day I'll always have more opportunities."
Ivanovic had looked finished when her Slovak opponent swept through the first set and broke early in the second.
The fourth seed kept pounding away at her groundstrokes, however, and finally they began to pay off .
She reeled her opponent in and finally sealed what had seemed an unlikely victory in two hours 10 minutes.
- REUTERS