Sharapova wins tough third round battle

Maria reached the quarter-finals in Rome this afternoon as she defeated Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 6-4 7-6 in 1 hour and 54 minutes. 

Maria got an early break to lead 2-1 in the 1st set and looked to be heading for a straightforward set until Wozniacki was able to break back and took a 4-3 lead, from there on the set was all Maria as the took the next 3 games to take the set 6-4.

Maria battled back from 1-5 down in the 2nd set as she took 5 straight games.  Wozniacki held her serve to force a tie-break which Maria won 7-3.

In the quarters to be played on Friday, Maria will play #9 seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland.  They have played 7 times before and Maria leads the series 6-1.  They have played twice before on red clay and it is tied 1-1 - Schnyder won their only meeting here 3 years ago in 3 sets.

Following Justine Henin's surprise retirement yesterday, Maria will return to the #1 spot when the new rankings are released.  Henin informed the WTA that she wishes to be removed from the rankings.  This is Maria's 4th stint at the top spot as she made her first appearance there in August 2005.  On Monday, Maria will start her 15th week at #1.


(www.mariasharapova.com)