INQUIRER Sports

MELBOURNE -- Russian fifth seed Maria Sharapova showed no sympathy as she ruthlessly put injured third seed Jelena Jankovic to the sword Thursday to earn herself a shot at redemption in the Australian Open final.

Sharapova, humiliated by Serena Williams in last year's final, downed the struggling Serb 6-3, 6-1 in a one-sided semi-final to set up a meeting with her vanquished opponent's compatriot, Ana Ivanovic, in Saturday's decider.

The Russian attended the same Florida tennis academy as Jankovic from an early age but gave her friend no quarter as she battled a painful lower back injury, admitting she was too intent on making amends for last year's drubbing.

"Of course" the 20-year-old replied when asked if she had unfinished business at Melbourne Park. "From the beginning of the tournament, you want to go a step further than you've done in the past."

Jankovic has carried injuries through the tournament, describing herself as "like a wounded animal" on court, but said it almost became too much when she felt a sharp pain in her lower back during the match.

"I wanted to withdraw, but it was not fair for the crowd," she said.

"It's a semi-final, so I played as much as I could to finish the match," she added, revealing she took painkillers to get herself back out on court.

Sharapova reproduced the stunning form that blew away world number one Justine Henin in the quarters before Jankovic's injury allowed her to run away with the match.

The two-time Grand Slam champion said her big-match experience would be a huge advantage in the final, where she will face an opponent who has contested only one Grand Slam decider, but she did not believe it would be decisive.

"I had the experience going into last year's final and it didn't turn out too good," she said.

"I'm just glad that I've been able to play such good tennis and I hope I can continue that for another match."

Sharapova's intensity was clear even when the players were forced to wait 10 minutes while the roof of the Rod Laver Arena was closed due to rain, Jankovic jiggling her leg nervously while Sharapova stared at the court.

The Russian held Jankovic to love as she served in the first game, flexing her muscles early as she blasted an ace past her Serbian opponent.

Jankovic, with only a popgun serve to match Sharapova's cannon, relied on her groundstrokes to try to run the Russian around but mistakes proved costly when she netted two returns and went down a break.

The massacre continued and Jankovic was left shaking her head in frustration as she went down 5-0, finally defending her serve to put herself on the board after 29 minutes and avoid a humiliating 6-0 "bagel."

The Serb's renowned fighting qualities then kicked in and she broke Sharapova and held on to make it 5-3, drawing cheers from the crowd.

But the revival came too late and Sharapova wrapped up the first set after 42 minutes.

Jankovic's injury problems then effectively ended the match, the Serb managing to win only one game in the second set after a medical time out, with Sharapova cruising to victory after 78 minutes.