Sharapova, Azarenka to meet in Aussie final

MELBOURNE, Australia - Maria Sharapova has avenged her Wimbledon loss to Petra Kvitova and returned to the Australian Open final for the first time since winning the 2008 title.

Sharapova broke Kvitova’s serve in the last game to finish off a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 semifinal win and set up a championship decider against third-seeded Victoria Azarenka, who ousted defending champion Kim Clijsters earlier yesterday to reach her first Grand Slam final.

Whoever wins the final will also gain the No. 1 ranking.

Sharapova lost to second-ranked Kvitova in the Wimbledon final last year, her first major final since returning in 2009 after a long time off the tour following a shoulder operation. She has won three majors, but none since the Australian four years ago.

“In the third set, I felt she always had the advantage because I was always down on my serve,’’ said Sharapova, who served five double-faults in the third set and 10 in the match. “I just told myself ‘You just gotta go for it, don’t let her finish off the points like she likes to.’?’’

Azarenka won the earlier semifinal 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, twice recovering from periods when a resurgent Clijsters seemed to have the upper hand, to secure victory in only her second appearance in a major semifinal.

After a strong start, Azarenka’s serve deserted her in the second set and Clijsters dictated play with her solid groundstrokes and some amazing defense.

But after getting the momentum back, it was Clijsters who blinked first in the third set, dropping serve in the second game and again in the fourth. She got two of those service games back, including one when she rallied from 40-0 down to win a game to get the score back to 4-3.

But Azarenka rallied immediately again, breaking serve. She got a triple match point trying to serve out the match and, after a double-fault on her first, she clinched it on a Clijsters error.

The 22-year-old Belarusian threw her racket on the court and sank to her knees, bent over with her hands covering her face. Clijsters came around the net to congratulate her.

“I felt like my hand is about 200 kilograms and my body is about 1,000 and everything is shaking, but that feeling when you finally win is such a relief. My God I cannot believe it’s over. I just want to cry,’’ Azarenka said as she choked back tears, then buried her face in a towel.

“It was just trying to stay in the moment. Kim really took over the second set and I felt there was nothing I could do. I just tried to regroup.’’

AP