Sharapova rules Russian battle at Wimbledon

Defending champion Maria Sharapova beat fellow Russian Nadia Petrova in straight sets at Wimbledon to set up a semifinal against two-time winner Venus Williams, who defeated Mary Pierce.

Sharapova, seeded second behind Lindsay Davenport, overcame eighth-ranked Petrova 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 at London’s All England Lawn Tennis Club today. Davenport, who won the title six years ago, beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6, 6-3 and will face Amelie Mauresmo, who ousted Anastasia Myskina. Williams, champion in 2000 and 2001, fought off a late Pierce rally to triumph 6-0, 7-6 (12-10).

Maria Sharapova survived the first test of her Wimbledon title defence, working her way through an error-riddled first set before moving into the semi-finals with an eventually straightforward victory over her fellow Russian Nadia Petrova.

While Sharapova found her rhythm and range - not to mention her piercing grunt - in the latter stages of a 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 win, so sloppy was the first set that the 18-year-old will be grateful to have a day on the practice courts before she meets Venus Williams in the semis.

“Finishing off matches is very tough and it gave me the shivers,” Sharapova said after her 22nd straight victory on grass. “It’s so good to be in the semifinals again.”

Sharapova had gone through to the quarters without losing a set. While eighth-seeded Petrova was to become the first player to take her to a tie-breaker, the 23-year-old will feel disappointed she did not take advantage of Sharapova’s mistakes, not grabbing her first break point until Sharapova was serving for the match.

The flipside of a scrappy day for Sharapova is that, while not at her best, she was still able to shake off in straight sets a player who, while never having won a WTA title, provides solid testing material for the higher-ranked players.

There was also the opportunity to get some valuable court-time ahead of the greater battles to come, the 55 minutes she took to fight her way through the first set being just 12 minutes shorter than the average time of her previous four matches.

And, if she did not look as sharp as she had in previous matches here, or during last year’s unexpected run to the title, Sharapova has won 22 consecutive matches on grass.

The second-youngest women’s Wimbledon champion in the Open era last year, aged 17, Sharapova hasn’t dropped a set in the defense of her only major title. Neither has Williams, who will make her first Grand Slam semifinal appearance since 2003, when she lost to sister Serena in the Wimbledon final. The winner this year will pick up a check for 600,000 pounds (USD 1.1 million.)

The pair have met twice on the women’s tour, Sharapova beating Williams in straight sets on hard courts in Zurich in 2004 and this year in Miami.

Sharapova, who had dropped 17 games in her previous four matches, was taken to a tie-break in an opening set with no breaks of serve. She closed out the set in 55 minutes with two powerful forehands, one down the line, the next into the corner that wrong-footed her opponent.

Champion’s Luck

Petrova, a semifinalist at last month’s French Open, had her serve broken in the second game of the second set as Sharapova opened up a 3-0 lead.

Petrova got her first break point of the match at 5-3 only for the champion to win the point as her ball clattered against the top of the net. Sharapova won the next rally with the help of another net cord and then sealed the match as Petrova overhit a forehand. The second set took 30 minutes.

Petrova “has such a big serve but I was able to pull through,” said Sharapova, who beat her opponent in their only other previous match in Los Angeles in 2003. “I knew she has a big game so I had to be prepared.”

Venus Williams also won the U.S. Open in 2000 and 2001 and was runnerup in five of six Grand Slams through Wimbledon 2003. Her father Richard told the British Broadcasting Corp. before today’s match that she and Serena didn’t love the game as much as they used to.

Venus Power

Venus responded by taking just 21 minutes to overpower the 2000 French Open champion and win the first set. Pierce needed eight games to get on the scoreboard and then rallied to take the second set to a tiebreak.

Pierce, who already matched her best performance in the only grass-court Grand Slam by reaching the last eight, had five set points to take the match into a decider. Each time, Williams battled back and, as Pierce tired, forced the victory. The second set took 68 minutes.

They followed Mauresmo and Myskina onto Centre Court after the French No. 3 seed reached her third semifinal in as many appearances at the event. Mauresmo, who missed Wimbledon in 2003, beat ninth-ranked Myskina 6-3, 6-4.

Myskina, 23, made 20 unforced errors and has now failed to go beyond the quarterfinal in five Grand Slams since winning last year’s French Open. Mauresmo leaped and punched the air after Myskina put a backhand wide to end the match after 69 minutes.

“Last year I had a couple of chances to make it through to the final and didn’t take them,” Mauresmo said. “I hope I’ve learned from that experience.”

‘Different Style’

Davenport dropped one point in the first-set tiebreak against U.S. Open champion Kuznetsova, the fourth Russian quarterfinalist and seeded fifth. Kuznetsova, who turned 20 yesterday, has never been beyond the quarterfinals of the sport’s other three Grand Slams.

Davenport has beaten Mauresmo 10 times in their past 13 matches, none of them on grass.

“She’s playing great and she’s a great athlete,” Davenport said. “I admire her a lot and will have to play my best. She plays a different style, comes in a lot and mixes up her pace.”

Now both of them are planning for the big one ‘FINALS’. But there is a big hurdle between final . So both revials
are ready for the semis.