Maria Sharapova thrashes Venus Williams to reach the semis – Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2012
In the highly anticipated quarter-final clash of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, the reiging world number two, Maria Sharapova, dumped the former top-ranked American competitor, Venus Williams, on Friday. The second seed Russian beauty queen took one hour and 41 minutes to register her humping victory in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, to book a berth in the semi-final draw of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier 5 event in Rome, Italy.
A much gruelling battle was expected between these two former world number one players but it was the sublime form and sheer class of Sharapova which prevailed in the end. The 25-year-old slender-legged diva absolutely manhandled the American veteran, winning points at will and cruising through the games with commanding ease. She had lost her previous two encounters to Venus but turned the tables on the current world number 63 to break into a 4-3 lead in the all-time head-to-head series.
Sharapova was facing Venus after almost three years and spent no time in finding her winning groove in the Friday’s contest. She coughed six double faults in the match but compensated for it by winning 29 out of 36 points on her first serve and breaking the American serve four out of nine times en route to victory. Venus could barely register one out of three break points in the entire match to finish on the losing side in the end.
"I hadn't played Venus in a long time, and the last few times I played her I lost, so I'm very happy with how things went today," Sharapova said. "Every match is tough, but it's always nice to come back somewhere like here, where I got a big win last year. It's great to be in the semi-finals of this event again."
Sharapova is slated to face the German number one, Angelique Kerber, in the semi-finals of the Rome Masters on Saturday afternoon.
"It will be good to get a rematch, but then again on clay it's always a bit of a challenge with the lefty spin," Sharapova said of the German. "It's a semi-final. Whoever gets here must be playing good tennis, so it will be tough."
Kerber’s sublime form of the current season continued with its prime effect, as she registered a huge upset in the quarter-final draw, beating the world number four, Petra Kvitova, in a gruelling three-setter. The 11th ranked German is 1-1 against Sharapova in the head-to-head combats.
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