Sharapova sets up Schnyder showdown in San Diego05.08.2007 08:00 SportsBy Matthew Cronin SAN DIEGO, California (Reuters) - Top seed Maria Sharapova ended Anna Chakvetadze's 12-match winning streak and powered into the San Diego Classic final with a 6-3 6-2 victory over her Russian compatriot on Saturday. The defending champion moved on to a final showdown against Swiss 11th seed Patty Schnyder, who knocked out ninth seed Elena Dementieva of Russia 7-6 6-0. Sharapova had little trouble defeating Chakvetadze, who appeared to be cramping late in the second after playing competitive tennis for three consecutive weeks. "The quality of the first set was better than the second where I didn't have to give as much, but it can get tricky and I'm glad to get it done," Sharapova told reporters. Chakvetadze had played Fed Cup and won titles in Cincinnati and Stanford before arriving in San Diego. After playing for more than two and a half hours in beating Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in a three-set quarter-final on Friday, she appeared to have lost some of her zip around the court. "I felt tired and couldn't run," Chakvetadze said. "I wasn't able to fight like yesterday because I didn't have much time to recover. But Maria played really well and hit a lot of winners." PATCHY SEASON Continued... Source: reuters.comwww.alllee.com |
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