Sharapova marches on with win over Clijsters

World number two Maria Sharapova racked up her 18th win in a row with a clinical 6-4 6-4 victory over Kim Clijsters in the round robin stage of the season-ending WTA Championships on Wednesday.

The 19-year-old, who is competing with Justine Henin-Hardenne and Amelie Mauresmo for the year-end number one spot, tops the red group after two straight sets victories and has one foot in the semi-finals of a tournament she won in 2004.

Former world number one Clijsters made an impressive return to action after a two-month lay-off with a wrist injury by winning in Hasselt at the weekend, but there was little she could do to counter Sharapova's power play at the Madrid Arena.

Backed by her heavy serve and pin-point ground strokes, Sharapova kept Clijsters under pressure to take the opening set 6-4.

The teenager turned the screw to break once again in the fifth and seventh of the second set, but the Belgian, who won back-to-back WTA Championship titles in 2002 and 2003, refused to give up without a fight.

She broke back in the eighth and had two more break points in the 10th, but the determined Sharapova held firm and won through with an ace.

Although Clijsters was victorious in the first four clashes between the players, Sharapova has now won on their last two meetings.