Tokyo, Oct 04: Russia's new heart-throb Maria Sharapova made her first WTA final when she breezed past Zheng Jie of China at the Japan Open tennis tournament today. The 16-year-old from Nyagan, Siberian region, who saw off the same opponent in a tough three-hour doubles semi-finals yesterday, stormed back from a 0-3 down to take the following seven games in a row for a 6-3 7-5 victory.
"She (Zheng) started playing off really well. I don't think there was too much I could do except to get my first serve in. But I felt good about hitting the ball, I didn't think I'm down 3-0," said the Russian fifth seed.
"It was only one break, and I started serving really well. That was the key especially in the second game that I was attacking. Luckily she missed easy points and I took her serve to three-all."
"I got the momentum from that and I think maybe she was let down by that."
Sharapova made her first appearance in a professional tournament two years ago and has won three ITF circuit events, including her first victory in Kusatsu, Gunma, north of Tokyo, last year. Bureau Report