Sharapova Knocks off Ivanovic in Brisbane; Venus Takes ASB Classic Title

Maria Sharapova edged Ana Ivanovic 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3 to win the Brisbane International on Saturday. The world number two fought back from a set down to upend the Serbian and capture her 34th career title.

“I played four good matches against very different types of opponents. Couldn’t have asked for a better preparation,” said Sharapova of her Australian Open tune up. “Now that I won a tournament, maybe I have a better chance of going higher in the ranking.”

Sharapova actually led 4-1 in the opening set but couldn’t put it away as she failed to notch a couple of set points in the 11th game. This opened the door for Ivanovic who would rally back and take the first set in a breaker.

The Russian would break Ivanovic early in each of the next two sets, and held that break advantage in each to capture the next two sets 6-3 and 6-3.

“She was doing a lot of things better in the first set, and she deserved to win the first set, but I hung in there,” said Sharapova. “It was important to get that break, and the third set came down to a few points, really. I’m just happy that I managed to get it in three.”

Venus Williams also came back from a set deficit to capture her first title of the year this past Saturday. The third-seeded American defeated top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki 2-6,  6-3, 6-3 at the ASB Classic final in Auckland, New Zealand.

“In the first set she was serving so well. She had an amazing first-serve percentage, all those amazing passing shots, even her miss-hits were too good,” said Williams of Wozniacki in the opening frame. “But I just tried to stay level-headed in the second set and focus on holding, and cut down on my unforced errors too, and it worked for me.”

Williams was able to clean up her unforced errors in the second and third sets to allow her to dictate play in the final two frames. She notched break points early and late in the third set to wrap up her first title since last February.

Her younger sister, Serena, struggled with her play on Saturday as the United States fell to Poland in the Hopman Cup final.

After John Isner defeated Jerzy Janowicz in the opening match of the final, Serena was defeated by Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-1 in the second singles match which sent the title into a rubber match.

In the mixed doubles contest, the Pollack’s knocked off Isner and Williams 7-5, 6-3 to capture the Hopman Cup title.