Sharapova advances to key Biscayne final

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. - Maria Sharapova blew a big lead, drew boos for taking a bathroom break and won only when opponent Tatiana Golovin was forced to retire in tears because of an ankle injury. The hollow victory Thursday night earned Sharapova a berth in the final at the Nasdaq-100 Open. Sharapova failed to convert four match points in the second set and played for another 75 minutes before Golovin twisted her left ankle and fell chasing a shot in the corner. A trainer taped Golovin's ankle. The French teenager played one more point, hitting a return wide, then called it quits with Sharapova serving and leading 6-3, 6-7 (5), 4-3, ad in. The stadium was less than half full when the match ended at 11:40 p.m. EST, but the fans were noisy. Three times they jeered Sharapova for taking a break leading 5-4 in the second set. The interruption didn't deter Golovin, who won the crowd's favor by completing her comeback from a 5-1 deficit in the set to force a third set. No. 4-seeded Sharapova 's opponent in the final Saturday will be No. 12 Svetlana Kuznetsova, who advanced by beating top-ranked Amelie Mauresmo for the second time in five weeks, 6-1, 6-4. Andy Roddick hit another bump in his bid to shake an early-season slump, losing to David Ferrer 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the men's quarterfinals. Roddick, who slipped from third to fourth in the rankings last week, has yet to reach a final this year. "I feel a lot better leaving this tournament than I did a couple of days before this tournament," he said. "I feel like I'm on the verge of playing really good tennis again." The loss cost Roddick a shot at top-ranked Roger Federer in the semifinals. Defending champion Federer rallied from a break down in the opening set and beat No. 9-seeded James Blake 7-6 (2), 6-4. Federer extended winning streaks of 25 consecutive matches against Americans, 46 matches in a row in the United States and a record 22 in a row in Masters Series events. He has reached the semifinals in his past 13 tournaments. "Maybe I'm a slow learner," said Blake, who also lost to Federer in the Indian Wells final two weeks ago. "But he doesn't make it easy. I'm starting to feel like one of those basketball players in the early '90s. You feel like you make Michael Jordan play well, but then every time he comes up and beats you and makes you realize why he's the best." Like Federer, Sharapova is bidding for back-to-back titles after winning at Indian Wells. She's 2-2 against fellow Russian Kuznetsova, winning their past two meetings. Sharapova led the No. 22-seeded Golovin 5-1 in the second set and held four match points serving at 5-3. But the situation inspired Golovin to raise her level of play, and she hung on by winning a series of long rallies to cut the deficit to 5-4. Sharapova requested a bathroom break. Because of the timing of the request, the chair umpire initially turned her down before relenting. Fans jeered as Sharapova trotted off the court and booed again when she returned. Golovin twice held serve to force the tiebreaker. She reached set point at 6-5, then hit a forehand that skipped off the net cord and landed on the baseline for a winner. Sharapova challenged the call, but instant replay confirmed the ruling, and the crowd erupted. Sharapova took another bathroom break, and the crowd booed her again. There were no further jeers, and only cheers for Golovin at the finish as she limped off the court, her arm around a trainer. She was then taken to a hospital. Roddick's biggest weapon — the serve — betrayed him against the 11th-seeded Ferrer. In the first set he made only 35 percent of his first serves. He was broken four times in the match and lost 20 of 30 points on his second serve. But he hung in there and almost managed to overcome his 49 unforced errors. "I like where my head was at as far as competing," Roddick said. "I played terrible the first set, but I was able to regroup and not lose it. That's a sign of confidence coming back." Roddick started slowly against Ferrer, losing the first four games. He climbed back into the match in the second set and rallied from a break down to reach 4-all in the third set. Ferrer broke again in the next game. A call reversed by instant replay gave the Spaniard a point to make it 15-40, and he pulled a backhand crosscourt for a winner to take the game. Ferrer then served out the match, improving his record against top-10 opponents to 8-18. He's 1-1 against Roddick. "Neither one of us played the perfect game," Ferrer said. "Maybe you're saying he's going through a bad patch, but everybody does. I'm sure he will win titles again." Federer, who came from behind to beat Blake at Indian Wells, had to rally once again. When Blake broke to go up 3-2 in the first set, Federer promptly broke back and raced to a 5-0 lead in the tiebreaker. "I had to get back into the match," Federer said. "I almost had the feeling it was an uphill battle all the way."-AP