By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, January 8, 2015
Baseline exchanges aren't extended negotiations when Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic convene on court. When the top two seeds face off for the 14th time in the Brisbane final, Sharapova isn't expecting any surprises.
Dimitrov on Top 5 Aspirations
The rematch of the 2008 Australian Open final promises first-strike tennis between two stubborn competitors trying to command the center of the court.
"We've played against each other many times. Certainly, [there are] no secrets about each other's games; we know each other quite well," Sharapova said. "But we always go in and we compete. We don't give up until the end I think that's what makes our matches so great."
Defiance is an asset Sharapova showed reeling off 11 of the final 13 games in rallying for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over Ivanovic to collect her third straight Stuttgart title last April.
By the time they met a month later on the red clay of Rome, Sharapova had won 13 of the last 15 sets they played. But a resurgent Ivanovic, stepping into the court and often following penetrating returns to net, broke five times in a 6-1, 6-4 victory that snapped Sharapova's 12-match winning streak and dented the Russian's aura of invincibility on dirt.
"She had a phenomenal year last year, some of the best results of her career," Sharapova said. "She's a much more confident player than the years before. That's great to see. I look forward to a good match."
Ivanovic's flat forehand down the line and her willingness to attack net helped her pull out a dramatic 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 win over Sharapova in Cincinnati last summer in a grueling baseline encounter that spanned two hours, 46 minutes.
Sharapova's coach, Sven Groeneveld, guided Ivanovic to the 2008 Roland Garros title and devised an authoritative game-plan for the rematch. Pounding away at the Serbian's second serve, Sharapova targeted Ivanovic's backhand in a ruthless 6-0, 6-4 triumph in their most recent meeting in Beijing last fall. Sharapova has won nine of their 13 meetings, including a 7-5, 6-3 decision in the 2008 Australian Open final that capped one of Sharapova's must impressive Grand Slam runs.
She did not drop a set in the tournament scoring wins over former champion Lindsay Davenport and Elena Dementieva to reach the quarterfinals where she dispatched No. 1 Justine Henin, No. 4 Jelena Jankovic and the third-ranked Ivanovic in succession.
"That was just a great tournament for me overall. I had one of my toughest draws in a Grand Slam environment," Sharapova said. "I faced a lot of different players, very different games. Actually, I thought [in] the final I didn't play as well as I did throughout the tournament. I was quite lucky to win that one. But I did everything I had to do and I finished up strong."
"It was a nice moment in that year. It was the nicest moment because then I ended up having surgery after that. So career-wise it was the highlight for me."