Final Is ‘Ova in a Real Hurry

Maria Sharapova and Elena Dementieva needed 17 minutes to play the first two games, and the second game went to five deuces before Dementieva broke serve.

This suggested an epic Pacific Life Open final was about to unfold.

Uh, not quite.

Two games, of course, does not make a match. Not when one player, Dementieva, is able to hold serve just once. Not when the chilly, windy conditions make the ball move around like a knuckleball, and necessitate clothing for spectators that involves a warm blanket.

And, lastly, not when the determined Sharapova is attempting to break out of a nine-month title-free zone.

And so her drought ended in the desert with a straight-set pummeling. The third-seeded Sharapova defeated her Russian countrywoman, the No. 4-seeded Dementieva, 6-1, 6-2, on Saturday, the most one-sided women’s final at Indian Wells since 1997 when Lindsay Davenport defeated Irina Spirlea, 6-2, 6-1.

This was Sharapova’s first title since winning on grass in Birmingham, England, last June. The 18-year-old has appeared in 13 finals, winning 11 titles, and this was arguably the third-most important championship of her career, following titles at Wimbledon and the WTA Tour Championships in 2004.

Injuries, particularly a strained pectoral muscle, curtailed her momentum in the latter part of 2005, and Sharapova, of late, seemed to frequently stumble at the semifinal hurdle, falling there in her last three Grand Slam tournaments.

“Honestly, I was having a really tough end of the year last year,” she said. “Not a lot of people know about it, but it was very frustrating because tournament after tournament, I’d be working hard, I’d be trying to get back in shape, playing tennis, and all of a sudden my injury would kind of bring me down again.”

She received another big break when Dementieva played almost three hours Friday afternoon in her semifinal against top-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne. The Belgian twice served for the match in the second set, leading, 6-2, 5-2, before Dementieva rallied to win. Of her five matches leading up to the final, Dementieva needed to go three sets in four of them.

“I think Maria, she was able to handle the situation and play with the wind better today,” said Dementieva, who is 1-4 against Sharapova.

“No, usually I just feel sad when the tournament is finished, but not this time. I’m glad it’s over because I just feel it was too much on me. I was playing so many hours on the court and I feel just a little tired today.”

Sharapova, who earned $332,000 for winning, posed for pictures on the court with tournament officials and tennis legend Chris Evert, who is part of the newly formed ownership group of the event. The Russian teenager later stood in the hallway outside the locker rooms, having her picture taken with Team Sharapova.

Neither of her coaches, father Yuri Sharapov or former tour player Michael Joyce, would talk to reporters about her performance.

This left any insight and analysis in Sharapova’s court. Her giddy mood after Friday’s semifinal victory over Martina Hingis gave way to self-satisfaction Saturday. Certainly the difficult conditions in the final offered a unique test of will and court sense.

“You can be playing great tennis the past week, you come out and no matter how good you might have been playing, the level of tennis goes down the drain basically simply because of the wind,” she said. “I think it was difficult for both of us. I tried to do everything possible, tried to get the balls in.

“A lot of balls, you didn’t know which way they were going, especially on the serve, to go up to the line and hit a good serve.”