Some pictures of Maria Sharapova from the final of the Australian Open 2008.

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Maria Sharapova won the 3rd Grand Slam title of her career with a straight-sets win over Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic at the 2008 Australian Open. Maria won 7-5 6-3 to add the Australian crown to victories at Wimbledon in 2004 and the 2006 US Open.

After both players sharing early breaks of serve, Sharapova moved ahead again in game 11 and served out the first set. And two breaks in the second set were enough to give Sharapova a convincing victory in one hour 31 minutes.

Maria went into the final as the lower ranked player having missed large parts of last season with a serious shoulder injury. But from the start of the tournament in Melbourne it was clear that her health problems were behind her as she swept through a draw that included Lindsay Davenport, Justine Henin and Jelena Jankovic.

Ivanovic, who had beaten Sharapova on her way to a first Grand Slam final at last year’s French Open, had enjoyed a breakthrough win over Venus Williams in the last eight. It was Sharapova who started as the favourite and she began the stronger, breaking in game six as Ivanovic double-faulted in a nervous game.

The Russian, who had not dropped a set on her way to the final, looked poised to extend that record until a surprising drop in her level from 4-2 ahead.

Ivanovic reeled off three straight games as Sharapova struggled both on serve and with her groundstrokes, and the Serbian was close to a second break at 0-30 up in game 10. But Sharapova overcame her brief wobble to hold on before Ivanovic then suffered a slump, handing her opponent a second break of serve with a poor game.

This time Sharapova was not to be denied, serving out to love for the set and almost taking control at the start of the second, just failing to convert two break points. She was now holding her own service games with ease, heaping the pressure on Ivanovic who finally cracked in game seven with a double fault and a forehand error.

Sharapova showed absolutely no sign of nerves as she held for 5-3 and raced to 0-40 and three championship points on the Ivanovic serve. The first two chances went begging but Sharapova converted the third when she forced an error, before dropping to her knees in triumph and then tearfully racing to see her father, Yuri, and supporters in the stands.

“This is just incredible,” she said. “If someone had told me in the middle of last year I’d be standing here with the big one, I’d have said ‘forget it.’ “Last year was pretty difficult for me and my coach (Michael Joyce), who lost his mother, and I really want to dedicate this to her.”

Ivanovic said: “Of course I am disappointed but I feel I have plenty of Grand Slam finals ahead of me.”

Some pictures of Maria Sharapova at a press conference on day 12 of the Australian Open 08

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Maria Sharapova progressed through to the final of the Australian Open with a convincing 6-3 6-1 victory over Jelena Jankovic.
The Russian, 20, outclassed the Serb, who was hampered by a back injury, and is now in sight of a third Grand Slam.

Maria, who won Wimbledon in 2004 and the US Open in 2006, raced into a 5-0 lead in the first set. After a brief wobble, Sharapova took the first three games of the next set and sealed the match, and will play Ana Ivanovic in Saturday’s final.

Sharapova admitted that she momentarily lost her focus when so far ahead in the first set. She spurned three set points and then served two doubles faults to lose her serve for the first time. Although her first serve percentage was less than 50%, Sharapova fired 20 winners in the nine games and finally clinched the opener with her sixth set point.

“I was up 5-0 and I was playing too good for my own level,” she said. “As everyone knows Jelena plays very well when she’s behind. But I’m really pleased that I’m back in the final.”

Jankovic left the court for treatment after losing her serve in the opening game of the second set. “I wanted to withdraw, but it was not fair for the crowd,” she said. “It’s a semi-final, so I played how much I could to finish the match. “When you get one injury, it’s kind of like a chain. You get so many others because your body is trying to compensate.”

Maria Sharapova advanced to the Australian Open semifinals for the fourth straight year with a convincing 6-4, 6-0 win Tuesday over top-ranked Justine Henin, snapping the Belgian’s 32-match winning streak. “Even though I beat Justine, it’s definitely not over,” Sharapova said. “I still have a lot of business to take care of.”

Sharapova won in 1 hour, 38 minutes, inflicting the first 6-0 set on Henin since 2002.

“I really felt like I was in a bubble,” Sharapova said. “I think it was one of the most consistent matches where I did all the things I wanted to do, and I did them correctly from the beginning to the end … and just played the way I can play.”

Henin, who struggled with her serve and was broken five times, said she had a minor concern over a lingering knee injury but called the loss an inevitability. “It’s very hard to be at your best level all the time,” she said. “I’ll have to think about that and build again for the future.”

In the semifinals, Maria will face Jelena Jankovic, who eliminated defending champion Serena Williams on Tuesday. Venus Williams followed her sister out of the Open in the quarterfinals, losing 7-6 (3), 6-4 to fourth-seeded Ana Ivanovic today.

Some pictures of Maria Sharapova from a recent photoshoot she has done for Sony Ericsson. Sharapova has signed a four year contract with the company which includes being proactive in designing Sony Ericsson’s future handsets and accessories aside from doing brand promotions.

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Some pictures of Maria Sharapova from day 7 at the Australian Open where she beat number 11 seed from Russia, Dementieva, 6-2 6-0. Maria will meet Justine Henin in the next round of the tournament.

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As expected Maria Sharapova easily beat Elena Vesina 6-3 6-0 in the third round of the Australian Open. The first set started with the first two games on serve but the next five games were breaks. At 4-3 Maria finally help serve for a 5-3 lead and then broke once again to take the set.

“I was giving her too many looks at my second serve,” she said. “We just kept breaking each other.” In the second set Maria won every game to take the set and match. “I’m really excited, it gets tougher from here and I’m really looking forward to stepping it up and playing at the next level,” she said.

The match lasted 1 hour and 20 minutes. Maria Sharapova will now play Elena Dementieva in the third round, who beat Shahar Peer 6-2 6-0 to advance to round 3.

Sharapova is right on course for her bid for the Australian Open 2008 crown reaching the second week without any real problems.

Some pictures of Maria Sharapova from the 5th day of Australian Open 08.

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Some pictures of Maria Sharapova from the first round of the Australian Open 2008 where she eased to a win against Kostanic Tosic 6-4, 6-3.

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