It was a difficult tournament with all the rain but Maria lost the final in Birmingham as she was defeated world #3 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 6-4 3-6 5-7 in just under 2 hours.
After a flurry of breaks in the 1st set, Maria was serving for the set at 5-4 and won the set on a beautiful backhand lob in 34 minutes.
Maria got the 1st break in the 2nd set in the 1st game as Jankovic double-faulted but Jankovic broke back to level the set 1-1. The next 2 games were held on serve and then Maria broke Jankovic to lead 3-2 when Jankovic hit a shot into the net but like the 1st set Maria dropped her serve in the next game. Jankovic then took the next 3 games to take the 2nd set by 6-3.
Maria started the 3rd set off well by playing a really good game to win the 1st game of the match to love and continued this form to break Jankovic to lead 2-0. Maria then held her serve but Jankovic won the next 3 games to level the set 3-3. The next games were holds of serve until Jankovic broke Maria and held her serve to take the match
Over the next week Maria will continue her preparations for the 3rd Grand Slam of the year at Wimbledon which begins next Monday.
Source: mariasharapova.com
June 18th, 2007
Posted by: Marco
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