25 October 2004	Monday	10 Ramazan 1425

ZURICH, Oct 24: Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova saw her hopes of a third consecutive WTA title dashed on Sunday in a surprise defeat by unseeded Australian Alicia Molik in the final of the Zurich Challenge.

But after taking the first set 6-4, the 17-year-old Siberian seemed to lose her way in the second set, hitting a string of unforced errors to bring Molik back into contention.

The 23-year-old Australian took full advantage - breaking Sharapova's service twice to take the set 6-2.

But Molik maintained her momentum - grabbing a decisive break late on before serving out for an impressive 4-6 6-2 6-3 victory.

SAFIN WINS FINAL

MADRID: Marat Safin overpowered Argentina's David Nalbandian 6-2 6-4 6-3 to win the Madrid Masters on Sunday.

Safin dominated from the baseline throughout, with Nalbandian unable to live with the pace of his opponent's ground strokes.

The Russian third seed emerged from a run of three broken service games with a 3-1 lead and held with authority for 4-1 before taking the opening set in 29 minutes.

Nalbandian made a backhand pass down the line to gain an early break in the second set but Safin hit back in game six, setting up break-point with a withering forehand crosscourt.

Safin broke again in game 10 to move two sets ahead and coasted through the third to complete victory in one hour 52 minutes.-Reuters