Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Serena Williams inches by Maria Sharapova for record sixth Miami title

(Reuters) - World number one Serena Williams fought back from a set down to beat Maria Sharapova 4-6 6-3 6-0 and win the Sony Open for a record sixth time on Saturday as she continued her dominance over her closest rival.

With the win, Williams, who struggled with her serve in the first two sets, becomes only the fourth woman in the Open era to win the same WTA tournament six times, joining Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and Steffi Graf.

"I finally have some record," Williams said. "Like it's really cool. I can't seem to catch up with Margaret Court or Steffi or anything. I'm really happy to have something right now, so it's exciting.

"I had my chances. There's no reason why I couldn't win the match today," said Sharapova, who dismissed any suggestion of a psychological weakness against Williams.

"It was a step in the right direction and there's no doubt that we'll be playing many more times. There's no doubt I'll be able to beat her."

"Maria played really the best I have seen her play, and I think she was moving unbelievable and she was hitting winners from everywhere. .... How did I end up winning when I actually wasn't on top of my game?"

Andy Murray goes to #2 in the ATP World Rankings with Miami tie-break win over Ferrer


(Reuters) - Britain's Andy Murray defeated Spain's David Ferrer 2-6 6-4 7-6 in a grueling and enthralling Sony Open final on Sunday to move above Roger Federer to second in the world rankings.

Murray was far from at his best against a dogged Ferrer but won the tie-break 7-1 after surviving a scare when the Spaniard had match point at 6-5 up, with Murray serving, in the third.
 

Murray's forehand landed close to the line and he faced a challenge from Ferrer, who called out rather than play the shot, but the ball was shown in, and the Scot won the next two points to force the tie-break.

"It was such a tough match, it could have gone either way, both of us were struggling physically at the end," said Murray whose victory was his second at Miami following his triumph in 2009.

"It's so tough against him. He has a great attitude, he's a great fighter. I am sure we will have more tough matches in the future."