PA-AP – Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska captured her second title of 2012 by defeating world No.2 Maria Sharapova in straight sets in the final of the WTA/ATP Miami tennis tournament on Saturday.
The 23-year-old from Krakow captured the crown with a 7-5 6-4 victory.
Radwanska won earlier this year in Dubai but this marked the biggest win of her career as she competed in Miami at a new career-high ranking of fourth in the world.
The fifth seed rode out the storm from the aggressive Sharapova, who led 7-1 in their head-to-head matches going into the final and had not lost to the Pole since 2007.
Sharapova lost her serve in the last game of each set and again fell short in a bid for her first Miami title.
The three-time grand slam champion fell to 0-4 in Key Biscayne finals. She was also the runner-up in 2005, 2006 and last year.
Radwanska earned her ninth career title and second this year. She’s 0-4 in 2012 against top-ranked Victoria Azarenka and 26-0 against everyone else.
The match was 72 minutes old before Radwanska hit her first baseline winner. She was content to play steadily and extend rallies until the more aggressive Sharapova would make a mistake.
Sharapova finished with 45 unforced errors and never broke serve.