September 9, 2006 -- Two bagels never looked so good.
Maria Sharapova advanced to her first U.S. Open Final, routing No. 1 ranked Amelie Mauresmo in yesterday's semis by posting book-ending 6-0 sets during a breakthrough, three-set triumph.
And despite the 6-0, 4-6, 6-0 rout, Sharapova is hungry for more.
"I'm not done yet," the 6-foot-2 blonde told the Ashe Stadium crowd.
Tonight's prime-time women's final is a delectable matchup, pitting the tour's glamour girl with the smoldering forehand/looks against the blue-collar Belgian baseliner and 2003 Open champion, Justine Henin-Hardenne. It will be ferocious forehand vs. ferocious forehand.
In the second set, a fan yelled out, "You're so pretty," in reference to Sharapova's popular new commercial, and Sharapova promptly bashed a swinging volley winner.
In posting her first victory ever against the French woman, Sharapova clobbered Mauresmo in the first and third sets in posting as lopsided a victory as a three-setter allows. Mauresmo notched just seven points in the third set.
Sharapova was 0-4 vs. Mauresmo and is 1-4 vs. Henin-Hardenne, losing the last four meetings.
Henin-Hardenne survived a horrid first set in outlasting up-and-comer Jelena Jankovic in a three-set win.
"I had a terrible record vs. Amelie and I have a terrible record against Justine," Sharapova said. "I'm hoping I can turn that around [tonight]."
Sharapova supports the women's final under the stars. She gets another opportunity to wear that black Audrey Hepburn dress, with the collared crystals that's drawn raves.
"The Open is all about the night matches," Sharapova said. "I think it's very cool."
There's a bit of jealousy among the women's tour at the attention and flood of endorsements Sharapova, 19, has received despite winning just one Grand Slam title. Since winning the 2004 Wimbledon, she hadn't been past a Grand Slam semifinal until yesterday.
It was only appropriate supermodel Heidi Klum was in attendance. In what sounded like a needle, Henin-Hardenne said of Miss Madison Avenue, "She's still looking for her second Grand-Slam title. She will have a lot of motivation."
"I didn't feel expectations from the outside world, more so from myself," Sharapova countered of the perception she hadn't lived up to the hype. "I won a Grand Slam, beat top players. After the first couple of months, I felt I needed to win every single match. I had to step back and say it's not going to happen."
Mauresmo, the Australian and Wimbledon champion, was stunningly tight at the outset, hitting stuff long or wide, unable to control the wind. She got broken three times, mis-hitting an inordinate number of balls. The first set was over in 24 minutes.
"I thought I played really smart," Sharapova said. "I wasn't making errors at the wrong time. I put pressure on her. I took my chances. It was very important to start well and I did."
Mauresmo settled down in the second set, breaking Sharapova at 5-4 to close the set, as the decibel levels of Sharapova's grunts soared to a crescendo, prompting giggling from the crowd.
"Even when I won the second, I didn't feel things were going the way I want to," Mauresmo said.
Mauresmo melted down again. To start the third, she banged two consecutive forehands into the net, getting broken in the first game and the second collapse was on.
Smelling blood, Sharapova broke her again to go up 3-0. Mauresmo sliced an awful backhand drop shot into the net and then outlasted Mauresmo on a marathon baseline rally to secure the game. Sharapova broke Mauresmo at love to go up 5-0 with a bullet backhand down the line, and moments later Sharapova lifted her arms in joy.
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