Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

Sports

Serena, Sharapova to square off in Key Biscayne final

By Sports Network
Published | Updated

Key Biscayne, FL – Serena Williams wasted little time joining Maria Sharapova in the Sony Open final.

The top-seeded Williams blitzed reigning champion Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-0, 6- 3, Thursday night to set up a highly anticipated final between the top two players on tour.

Earlier, Sharapova whipped fellow former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic, 6-2, 6-1 on a sun-drenched afternoon at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park to reach her third straight Key Biscayne championship match and fifth overall, though she has yet to wear the crown.

The third-seeded Sharapova won the first 10 points of the match en route to blowing away the 22nd-seeded Jankovic. The Russian wound up breaking her Serbian counterpart six times on Day 10 of this two-week event and improved to 7-1 lifetime against the former U.S. Open runner-up Jankovic, who was a Key Biscayne finalist in 2008.

The red-hot career Grand Slam winner Sharapova is now riding an 11-match winning streak without losing a set, which includes a title at Indian Wells two weeks ago.

Sharapova will appear in her 48th career WTA final, but a 29th title will be a tough task as she has lost 10 straight matches against Williams, with her only two wins in 13 meetings coming in 2004.

Williams was in top form against the fourth-seeded Radwanska, winning 26 of the 39 points in a one-sided first set. Radwanska had dropped the first set in her previous two matches, but proved no match against the 15-time Grand Slam champion in falling to 0-5 lifetime against the American.

Williams, the world No. 1 and reigning Wimbledon and U.S. Open queen, is a seven-time Key Biscayne finalist and has won five titles. With Thursday's win, she passed the legendary Steffi Graf for the most wins in Key Biscayne with 60.

She is bidding to become the fourth woman in the Open Era to win the same tournament six times, while Sharapova is trying to become the third player to win at Indian Wells and Miami in the same year

Saturday's winner of this $4.195 million event will collect $724,000.