17 November 2004	Wednesday	04 Shawwal 1425

LOS ANGELES, Nov 16: Teenager Maria Sharapova capped her stunning year by overcoming an injured Serena Williams 4-6 6-2 6-4 in the final of the season-ending WTA Tour Championships on Monday.

After falling behind 4-0 in the third set, the Wimbledon champion reeled off six games in a row to overpower a hobbling Williams.

The American took a medical timeout for treatment on an abdominal strain after the seventh game of the second set.

After returning to the court 5-2 down, Williams lost about 40 mph from her service speed and had trouble moving to her right.

Sharapova easily closed out the second set but, in the third, Williams began to go for broke off the ground and cracked winners to all angles of the court to storm into a 4-0 lead.

The young Russian eventually took a foothold in the final set when she held serve at 4-0 and, with Williams wilting, she hit back to seal a victory which earned her $1 million.

Sharapova, who now moves to a career-high number four in the world rankings, also became the first champion from Russia and only the second player to win the title on her debut in the event.

Serena lifted the trophy on her first appearance in 2001. winning start

HOUSTON: World number one Roger Federer made a winning return from injury on Monday, opening the defence of his Masters Cup crown with a ruthless 6-1 7-6 win over Gaston Gaudio.

The only debutant in the elite eight-player field, Gaudio's prowess on clay is in sharp contrast to his struggles on the North American hardcourts having claimed just two wins on the surface since the U.S. Open.

Between them Federer and Gaudio captured all the grand slam titles on offer this season, the Swiss taking Wimbledon, Australian and U.S. Open while the Argentine took the French Open to prevent a sweep.

But Federer's all-court game was simply too much for the Argentine baseliner.

Under heavy, grey skies the match got off to a stuttering start, Federer taking the opening game before rain hit the Westside Tennis Club delaying play for two hours and 20 minutes.

When play resumed, Gaudio held serve but Federer seized control on his next opportunity hammering a running forehand winner down the line to break the Argentine and go up 3-1.

Now back to his familiar flowing rhythm, Federer stormed through the next four games taking the set in just 31 minutes.

In the second, Gaudio offered some stern resistance but the feisty Argentine was never able to penetrate Federer's defences failing to gain a break point the entire match.

If Federer's game was lacking anything it was a bit of his killer instinct, converting just two of 21 break opportunities before finally clinching the second set and match 7-4 in the tiebreak. - Agencies