Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova set for WTA final

Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova
will face each other in the final of the
WTA Championships in Istanbul.
Williams, the American world number
three, booked her place in Sunday's
final with an emphatic 6-2 6-1 win over
Agnieszka Radwanska in 61 minutes.
Sharapova, the world number two from
Russia, had to work much harder
before overpowering world number
one Victoria Azarenka 6-4 6-2 in her
semi-final.
The match featured a sixth game in the
second set that lasted 15 minutes.
Sharapova served two double-faults
but finally broke Azarenka's resistance
after nine deuces to take a 5-1 lead.
Azarenka, who had secured the year-
end top ranking the day before with her
win over Li Na, seemed to be hindered
by a strained right thigh and was
unable to prevent her opponent's
victory.
"I have lost to Victoria a few times so I
was happy to get the chance to play
against her," said Sharapova, who went
into the match having lost to the
Belarusian four times out of five this
year.
"Against the world number one, you
have to run down every ball. She's
number one for a reason so I had to be
ready for every shot.
"It will be a difficult match against
Serena. She's been on fire, she's the
one to beat."
Sharapova, the French Open champion,
will now seek to win her second WTA
Championship title, having also won it
in 2004.
But the French Open champion will face
a tough task in the final, with Williams
having won her last 12 matches against
top-four players.
Williams, who has won six WTA titles
this year - including the Olympics, US
Open and Wimbledon - came into the
day's first semi-final having not
dropped a set, while Radwanska had
played in two three-set matches.
The 23-year-old world number four,
whose match against Sara Errani on
Friday was the longest in the
tournament's history at three hours
and 29 minutes, looked more fatigued
as the contest wore on.
The Pole, runner-up to Williams at
Wimbledon, was broken three times in
each set as the 15-time major
champion secured her 47th win out of
her last 49 matches.
"Those last two matches really killed
me," said Radwanska. "I really wanted
to run, but my legs didn't.
"I was trying, but Serena played too
fast. I couldn't do anything."
Williams, 31, was sympathetic to the
Pole's predicament, saying: "I just told
her it was awesome that she played so
well and played through another match
after playing a good eight hours. It was
really inspiring for me."