Maria Sharapova of Russia poses with the trophy after defeating Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in straight sets to win the women’s final match of the 2013 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, yesterday.
INDIAN WELLS, California: Maria Sharapova played aggressively from the start to win her first title since last year’s French Open with a 6-2 6-2 demolition of Caroline Wozniacki in the BNP Paribas Open final yesterday.
In a showdown between two former world number ones, the second-seeded Russian overpowered the Dane with a ruthless display, breaking her twice in each set to seal victory in one hour 21 minutes. Sharapova was in attack mode throughout with an array of deep groundstrokes and superb serving to claim her second title at Indian Wells after winning for the first time in 2006.
The 25-year-old Russian ended the match in champion style with a 109 mph service winner before raising both arms skywards in celebration.
“What makes it so special is when you end up as the champion, that’s why I am smiling,” a beaming Sharapova said courtside after extending her run of at least one WTA title each year since 2003.
“I really appreciate these moments. This is what I do all the work for. When you have days like this ... it’s a really nice feeling because everything has paid off.”
“The scoreline looks a lot easier than I think the match actually was,” added the Russian world number three who rose to two in the latest rankings. “It was a tough match, a tough battle, and there were a lot of games that went to deuce and a lot of long games.
“They could have easily swung the other way, especially some opportunities she had in that second set. But I always felt like I was always a foot ahead, especially with the breaks. I was able to serve well today, and that helped me.”
Eighth seed and 2011 Indian Wells champion Wozniacki, who like Sharapova was competing in her third final here, applauded the Russian’s high-quality performance.
“She just played too well today,” the 22-year-old Dane said. “I tried. I tried to do my best out there, but, yeah, it just wasn’t good enough today. I didn’t feel like I was playing poorly. I felt like I was playing pretty good tennis out there. REUTERS
