Gruntfest looms,with title and top spot on the line

The 22-year-old Azarenka and 24-year-old Sharapova are 3-3 in career head-to-head meetings. But Azarenka holds the edge in two finals,having beaten Sharapova in straight sets at Stanford in 2010 and in Florida last year. But instead of thinking dominance,Azarenka thinks Sharapova might be out for revenge.

A chance to rise to the top

If Azarenka wins the final,she would be only the third player to rise to the top ranking after her first Grand Slam win. Martina Navratilova rose to No. 1 for the first time after winning Wimbledon in 1978,while Ana Ivanovic did the same after winning the 2008 French Open. A Sharapova win would mark the fourth time in the Russian’s career that she’s held the top ranking,the most recent in June 2008. Overall,she’s been No. 1 for 17 nonconsecutive weeks.

Sharapova dismisses any thoughts of playing for the top ranking. “Having been in the position before…I think,for me,it’s more about the Grand Slam win than the No. 1 ranking,” she said. “That’s just always been the goal for me.”

It’s been four years since Sharapova won the last of her three major titles — here in 2008,and nearly eight years since she lifted the Wimbledon trophy at 17. In between,she won the US Open in 2006. “It means so much to be back in a Grand Slam final,” Sharapova said. “It’s nice to get that far again (here) after losing quite early in the last couple of years.”

Paes in final,Hesh-Sania out

Leander Paes booked himself a second final spot as he and Elena Vesnina reached the mixed doubles summit clash. Fifth seeds Paes and Vesnina beat the Italian pair of Roberta Vinci and Daniele Bracciali 5-7 6-2 10-7 in the semifinal. Paes has already made it to the men’s doubles final with Czech partner Radek Stepanek and they face top seeds Americans Bob and Mike Bryan.

However,the Indian pair of Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi crashed out after a straight-sets defeat in the mixed doubles semifinal. The sixth seeded pair lost 3-6 3-6 to Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States and Romania’s Horia Tecau in just 68 minutes. The Indians could hit only 17 winners as compared to 24 by their opponents.