Maria Sharapova won her 2nd WTA Qatar Open in as many appearances with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-0 victory over fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva in the final at Khalifa International Tennis complex in Doha.

Maria, who won also won the title in 2005, proved too strong for her compatriot in the ultimate match of the $2.5 million Tier 1 tournament, even though Maria lost her way in the second set. The 20-year-old is currently undefeated in 2008 with 14 wins from 14 matches spanning the Australian Open, Russia’s Fed Cup tie against Israel, and now the Qatar Open.

“Maria played really well, and I think she deserved to win today. I want to congratulate her on her victory,” Zvonareva, ranked 27 in the world, said. “It’s been a great week. I was injured and couldn’t play at the Australian Open, so it’s great to be back here and to make the final.”

Sharapova’s serve was broken in the opening game of the match, but she then went on the rampage to win six games straight and take the first set in quick time as a shell-shocked Zvonareva struggled to find her rhythm. But just when it looked like being an early night for the capacity centre court crowd, Zvonareva raced to a 3-0 lead in the second set and then broke Sharapova again at 5-2, levelling the match at one set each.

Several unforced errors and double faults crept into Maria’s game, while Zvonareva working her way back into the match with plenty of support from the crowd who cheered on the underdog. However, Maria upped her game in the third set as the former world number one drew on all her big match experience to again reel off six straight games and win the Championship in one hour and 31 minutes. “I’d like to congratulate Vera on a great week. To come back from injury is tough. I’ve been there before, and it’s a wonderful effort by her,” Sharapova said of her opponent.

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Maria Sharapova has continued her unbeaten start to the 2008 season as she advanced to the semi-finals of the Qatar Open on Friday. 4th seed, Maria, overwhelmed Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki, 6-0, 6-1, in a one-sided encounter at the $2.5 million event.

Maria has now won all 12 of her matches this season and is showing no signs of slowing down as she goes after the $414,000 first prize. Maria was never broken during the 60-minute match and won 22 from 27 (81%) points on her first-serve.

Maria will attempt to continue on the path toward her 18th career title when she faces 16th seed Agnieszka Radwanska on saturday.

Some pictures of Maria Sharapova at the opening ceremony of the WTA Qatar Total Open at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex.

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Maria Sharapova will make her first return to the WTA Tour this week after her Australian Open success with predictions that she will soon take the world #1 position away from Justine Henin.

Maria lost only 32 games in 14 sets and seven matches in succeeding in Melbourne last month, including a quarter-final dismantling of Henin, who yesterday won the Antwerp Diamond Games. Maria is now hoping to try and realise predictions that she can move to the top of the women’s world rankings, by overtaking Henin and dominating the game over the next few years.

Henin is not in Doha, which gives Maria the opportunity to close the gap on her. However, the tournament will not be a walkover with the potential for an Australian open final rematch against Serbs Ana Ivanovic and also Jelena Jankovic, the world #3, and possibly Venus Williams and Amélie Mauresmo.

Some pictures of Maria Sharapova playing in a bright purple Nike outfit.

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Some pictures of Maria Sharapova arriving at L.A. International Airport.

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Some pictures of Maria Sharapova from her debut Fed cup match against Tzipi Obziler who she beat 6-0 6-4, helping defending champions Russia level 1-1 with Israel in the first round on Saturday.

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Some pictures of Maria Sharapova training in Tel Aviv.

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