Cincinnati: No meltdown for Maria Sharapova in this Cincinnati final. She put five sterling points together, and that was enough.
Sharapova overcame a first-set letdown on Sunday, rallying to beat Jelena Jankovic 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3 for the championship of the Western & Southern Open.
The Russian survived a match full of service breaks — 16 in all, seven in the final set alone — for her second title of the season. Sharapova's best moments came in the tiebreaker, when she won the last five points to even the match.
"That's pretty much it, putting five points together that were well-played," she said.
The 14th-ranked Jankovic extended her streak of 17 months without a singles title. She won in Cincinnati in 2009, but hasn't gotten a championship since Indian Wells on March 21 last year.
"This match could have gone either way," she said. "I had my chances. It showed the match is not over until you shake the hand."
Jankovic shook hands and then sat in her chair after the match, biting a white towel while staring straight ahead, thinking about what had just happened. The match ended when her baseline forehand sailed wide. Despite the loss, Jankovic was upbeat. She came to Cincinnati feeling rusty and lacking confidence after playing few matches lately and having little success.
Great year
"I'm pretty unpredictable," she said. "If somebody told me I was going to play a final here, I would right away sign the paper."
It was a sweet about-face for Sharapova, who reached the finals in Cincinnati last year against Kim Clijsters, got three match points in the second set, then melted down.
"It's been a great year for me so far," Sharapova said. "It can always be better or worse. I'm definitely proud I've gone further than last year, after the disappointing loss here last year."
This time, she came out on top in a tournament that had the women's bracket torn apart by injuries, illness and upsets. Clijsters withdrew because of an abdominal strain — she's also out the US Open, where she's won the last two titles.
Venus Williams was sidelined by a virus. Sister Serena Williams dropped out at midweek with a sore toe. Third-seeded Victoria Azarenka had to quit because of a hand injury.
The tournament ended with a pairing of players who had only one singles title between them this season, Sharapova's championship at Rome.
Jankovic, who was ranked No 1 as recently as 2008, has struggled with back, wrist and ankle injuries during her long run with only one singles title.
The Serb reached only one other final this season, losing at Monterrey, and had a chance to end the 17-month drought after getting off to a good start on Sunday.
Sharapova is fourth
Maria Sharapova, who won the Cincinnati title, jumped to fourth in the women's WTA tennis rankings released yesterday.
Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki continues to lead an unchanged top 10 with 9,335 points from Vera Zvonareva. The Russian is on 6,820 points.
WTA top 10 as of August 22 (previous ranking in parenthesis): 1. (1) Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark, 9,335 points 2. (2 Vera Zvonareva, Russia, 6,820 3. (3 Kim Clijsters, Belgium, 6,501 4. (7) Maria Sharapova, Russia, 6,346 5. (4) Victoria Azarenka, Belarus, 5,995 6. (6) Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic, 5,685 7. (5) Li Na, China, 5,671 8. (8) Francesca Schiavone, Italy, 4,855 9. (9) Marion Bartoli, France, 4,225 10. (10) Samantha Stosur, Australia, 3,930;
