Maria just won her first tournament of the year by beating fellow Russian Elena Dementieva on a very windy tenniscourt in Indian Wells 6-1 6-2.
In the rankings Maria moves up 1 spot to #4 with 2753 points. Her next tournament will be the NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami, starting Tuesday.
"It feels really great," she smiled. "I've worked really hard the past few months to get past my (shoulder and rib) injury and to really believe in myself. It's moments like these where the hard work comes into your mind."
After playing for nearly three hours to upset top seed Justine Henin-Hardenne in the semi-finals on Friday, fourth seed Dementieva couldn't find the energy to run with Sharapova.
Click here for Indian Wells "in pictures" (High Quality photos)
March 20th, 2006
Posted by: Marco
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