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World number two Maria Sharapova racked up her 18th win in a row with a clinical 6-4 6-4 victory over Kim Clijsters in the round robin stage of the season-ending WTA Championships on Wednesday.
The 19-year-old, who is competing with Justine Henin-Hardenne and Amelie Mauresmo for the year-end number one spot, tops the red group after two straight sets victories and has one foot in the semi-finals of a tournament she won in 2004.
Former world number one Clijsters made an impressive return to action after a two-month lay-off with a wrist injury by winning in Hasselt at the weekend, but there was little she could do to counter Sharapova's power play at the Madrid Arena.
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Backed by her heavy serve and pin-point ground strokes, Sharapova kept Clijsters under pressure to take the opening set 6-4.
The teenager turned the screw to break once again in the fifth and seventh of the second set, but the Belgian, who won back-to-back WTA Championship titles in 2002 and 2003, refused to give up without a fight.
She broke back in the eighth and had two more break points in the 10th, but the determined Sharapova held firm and won through with an ace.
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Although Clijsters was victorious in the first four clashes between the players, Sharapova has now won on their last two meetings.
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