FOXNews.com: Sharapova reaches fourth Miami final

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Sharapova reaches fourth Miami final Mar 29th 2012, 20:45 Key Biscayne, FL –  In a battle of former world No. 1s, Maria Sharapova outlasted Caroline Wozniacki to reach the final at the $4.828 million Sony Ericsson Open. The second-seeded Sharapova got past the fourth-seeded Wozniacki 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in just over 2 1/2 hours at Crandon Park outside of Miami. Sharapova appeared well on her way to capturing the opening set Thursday by running out to a 4-1 lead, but her mighty forehand abandoned her for a stretch as Wozniacki surprisingly won five straight games to take the stanza. The three-time Grand Slam champion Sharapova, however, fought back to take the second set handily, setting the stage for a tight third. Sharapova tallied two breaks to the Danish Wozniacki's one in the final set, which the Russian ultimately closed out by holding serve. An angry Wozniacki exited the stadium without shaking the chair umpire's hand. On the final point of the match, a Sharapova serve was called long by a linesman, which would have given the point to the Dane via double fault, but the umpire overruled the call, which gave Sharapova another shot to successfully close out the game, and the match, at 40-30, which she did with an overhead winner. A television replay showed the umpire was correct with his overrule. The powerful Sharapova is now 4-2 lifetime against Wozniacki. Sharapova's opponent in Saturday's final will be fifth-seeded Pole Aggie Radwanska or seventh-seeded former Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli of France, as that match will be staged on Thursday night. Radwanska was a big winner in Dubai last month, while Bartoli handed Australian Open champ Victoria Azarenka her first loss of the year here on Wednesday night. The 24-year-old Sharapova, who lost to Azarenka in last year's Miami final and the championship match at Indian Wells two weeks ago, is a three-time Sony Ericsson Open runner-up who will appear in her fourth final here in eight years. Sharapova will now appear in her 40th career WTA final, seeking a 25th title. She's looking for her first championship of 2012, having lost to Azarenka in finals at Indian Wells and the Aussie Open this year. Saturday's big winner will pocket $712,000.

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