Sharapova: Henin win one of my greatest
Maria Sharapova has lauded her stunning victory over Justine Henin in the quarter finals of the Australian Open, dubbing the straight sets demolition one of her ‘most consistent’.
Sharapova devoured the world number one, courtesy of awesome power from the back of the court. The win was just the third for the Russian over Henin in nine contests.
“I think it was one of the most consistent matches where I did all the things I wanted to do,” Sharapova said. “I did them correctly from the beginning to the end, except having a little letdown in the end of that first set.”
Sharapova controlled the tempo of the match from the get-go, when she opened a 3-0 lead in just nine minutes. Henin broke back to get back on serve at 4-5, before Sharapova steamrolled through the next seven games.
“I had to be aggressive. When I’m playing well, that’s what I do. I’m not a passive player. I don’t want to lose the match by giving my opponent an opportunity to miss shots.”
The lopsided result will surprise those who witnessed last year’s classic WTA tour championship final in Madrid, won by Henin in a three set match that went for more than three hours.
“I came into (tonight’s) match really prepared to play a three to four hour match,” Sharapova said.
“I was ready for it.”
The Russian brushed aside suggestions from Henin that a knee injury hampered the world number one.
“Look, in the second week of a grand slam everyone’s hurting,” Sharapova said. “We’re all hurting. It’s impossible to be 100 percent healthy.”
Tonight’s ruthless display will catapult the 5th seed into favouritism for the title, which would be Sharapova’s 3rd major trophy. Sharapova says she a vastly different woman to the teenager that won Wimbledon in 2004.
“Three years ago, I was like a little piece of spaghetti. It’s amazing for me to see some of the matches that I won at Wimbledon when I was 17, to see how I could physically do it match in and match out, it’s pretty incredible.”
Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic stands between Sharapova and back-to-back Melbourne Park finals, with the duo well acquainted with each others games.
“Ever since the juniors we’ve always played really tough and we’ve always battled it out, and it’s great to see her in the semi,” Sharapova said.
Sharapova holds a 3-1 head-to-head advantage over Jankovic on the WTA tour, however the 3rd seed won their previous meeting, a three set victory on the Birmingham grass last year.
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