Williams, Sharapova to clash in Miami final

Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams. AP

MIAMI — Five-time champion Serena Williams wasted no time booking her berth in the WTA Miami final by steamrolling Agnieszka Radwanska 6-0, 6-3 to set up a title clash with third seed Maria Sharapova.

Russia’s Sharapova, a four-time runner up in Miami, was equally dominant as the newly-crowned Indian Wells winner hammered Jelena Jankovic 6-2, 6-1 in the other semi-final on Thursday.

“Today my game wasn’t great but I had to keep trying,” Williams said. “I am excited because I am in the final.

“My family and friends are here so I have to do well. I can’t let my friends down.”

The 31-year-old Williams blasted 12 aces and won 83 percent of her first serves in the 65-minute match against the fourth seeded Radwanska of Poland.

Williams is bidding to become just the fourth woman in the modern era to win the same event six times, joining Chris Evert, Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova. Evert is the only player over the age of 30 to win the title, doing so at the age of 31 years, two months in 1986.

“She (Sharapova) is playing so well. It will be a great match. We always have great matches,” Williams said of facing Sharapova.

Sharapova is in her fifth final in quest of her first Miami title.

“It would mean so much to me,” Sharapova said. “The fans give me so much support here. I love this city. It was the first city I came to in this country when I was a little girl and I would love to win.”

Four-time Grand Slam champion Sharapova lost to Kim Clijsters in the 2005 Miami final, to Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2006, Victoria Azarenka in 2011 and Radwanska last year — all in straight sets.

Not only is Sharapova trying to end her Florida frustration, she is trying to become only the third woman to win both major March events, Indian Wells and Miami, in the same year.

Graf swept the pair in 1994 and 1996 and Clijsters did it in 2005.

“It would be nice, but winning a title, whether it’s here or Indian Wells, is a great achievement on its own,” Sharapova said. “To be able to come back from that, recover in just a few days and come back to the final here, it’s great.”

Sharapova broke Jankovic three times in each set to win her 11th match in a row, ending matters after 63 minutes by breaking the Serb with a forehand winner.

In men’s action, reigning US Open and Olympic champion Andy Murray reached the semi-finals by ousting Croatian ninth seed Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-3, shaking off two early exchanges of breaks to find his form.

“I played more solid as the match went on,” Murray said. “Once I got back on level terms in the first set I started to do better, so many long rallies, long points, long games.”

The Scottish second seed, who won the 2009 title and lost last year’s final, will face French eighth seed Richard Gasquet who surprised Czech fourth seed Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-3.

“I played more solid as the match went on,” Murray said. “Once I got back on level terms in the first set I started to do better, so many long rallies, long points, long games.”

Murray improved to 8-1 all-time against Cilic, winning five times in a row since the lone loss in the fourth round of the 2009 US Open.
Murray beat Cilic in four sets at last year’s US Open quarter-finals on the way to his first Grand Slam crown.

Murray broke Cilic to open the second set, exchanged breaks in the seventh and eighth games, then closed out matters in the ninth game on his seventh match point by breaking when Cilic netted a forehand after one hour and 42 minutes.

Gasquet is searching for his first career title in the Miami Masters event. No Frenchman has ever won in the tournament’s 28-year history.

The other semi-final sees third-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer against 34-year-old giant-killer Tommy Haas, who shocked the world number one and two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic on Tuesday.