Fourth seed Maria Sharapova entered the final of the Australian Open 2012 by defeating Petra Kvitova in the last four match at the Rod Raver Arena on Thursday.
Sharapova won 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 to book her place against Victoria Azarenka in the final.
It was a tough semi-final with the two players being involved in a keen tussle through the match. In the end, Sharapova won only two more points than Kvitova, 86 to 84.
Sharapova broke the Czech player in the third game of the first set before being broken again to go level at 2-2. But that was the last game that Kvitova won as Sharapova broke her twice more in the set to romp home 6-2.
In the second set, Sharapova lost her momentum, even as Kvitova found herself regaining her rhythm. Kvitova levelled the score by winning the second set 6-3 and taking the match into the deciding third.
Kvitova broke Sharapova early in the third set but the Russian broke right back and the match looked to be headed towards a photo-finish at 4-4. However, Sharapova held the ninth game of the third set before breaking Kvitova in the 10th and raced into the final.
The Russian said, “I felt like in the third she always had the advantage because I was always down on my serve. And I just thought you have got to go for it,”
She also added, “I just hung in there and got a few returns in in the last game. She was serving so well in the third. Maybe that was the key.”
