September 11, 2006	Monday	Sha'aban 17, 1427

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NEW YORK, Sept 10: Maria Sharapova showed grit, firepower and the ability to come up big when it counted most to whip Justine Henin-Hardenne and capture the US Open in straight sets on Saturday.

The 19-year-old Russian defeated world No 2 Henin-Hardenne 6-4, 6-4 at Arthur Ashe Stadium by displaying the tenacity normally seen by her more seasoned rival.

When Henin-Hardenne punched a match-ending forehand into the net, Sharapova fell to her knees and held her head in her hands while the crowd of nearly 24,000 roared its approval.

The title marked the second Grand Slam of Sharapova's career, following her remarkable Wimbledon run in 2004.

The men's title was to be decided on Sunday when top seed and world No 1 Roger Federer shoots for his ninth career Grand Slam title against American Andy Roddick.

Henin-Hardenne, the 2003 champion playing in her fourth Grand Slam final of the year, broke Sharapova's serve in the second game of the match to take a 2-0 lead.

But Sharapova broke the Belgian in the next game to get back on serve and never let up. Henin-Hardenne never had another break point, the victim of Sharapova's laser-like groundstrokes at the most crucial times.

Sharapova broke Henin-Hardenne in the ninth game of the match to take a 5-4 lead before serving out the set.

The second set remained on serve until Sharapova registered the only break, taking a 4-3 lead after two faulty forehands from Henin-Hardenne.

Sharapova had too much in her arsenal for Henin-Hardenne, successfully landing 72 percent of her first serves, blasting 20 winners on top of five aces.

Federer needed an hour and 43 minutes on Saturday to breeze past iron man Nikolay Davydenko 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 to become the first man in the Open era to reach six straight Grand Slam finals.

Roddick recovered from a first-set wobble to oust unseeded Mikhail Youzhny 6-7, 6-0, 7-6, 6-3 and reach his first Open final since winning the tournament in 2003.

Federer has a 10-1 record against Roddick, the lone setback in 2003 on a hard court in Montreal. The Swiss has won both times they have met in grand slam finals, both at Wimbledon.

Federer has a 20-match winning streak at Flushing Meadows and has lost just one set, a tiebreaker, in his six matches on the Open hard courts this year.

Davydenko, a tireless 25-year-old baseliner who has taken just two weeks off this year, has now lost to Federer in all eight career matches.

Ninth seeded Roddick won the Open three years ago but despite reaching two straight Wimbledon finals has failed to capture any Grand Slams since and slipped out of the world's top 10 this year.

Roddick made just 18 unforced errors but the 54th-ranked, 24-year-old Youzhny took the first set tiebreak 7-5 with some superb all-court play.

The American roared back to take the second set in just 22 minutes and, after taking the third set tiebreak 7-3, broke once in the fourth to secure the victory.

After hiring Jimmy Connors as his coach this summer, the 24-year-old has been rejuvenated and reached the final with the loss of just three sets.

Saturday’s results:

Women's singles final: 3-Maria Sharapova (Russia) beat 2-Justine Henin-Hardenne (Belgium) 6-4, 6-4.

Men’s singles semi-finals: 9-Andy Roddick (US) beat Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) 6-7 (5-7), 6-0, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3; 1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) beat 7-Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) 6-1, 7-5, 6-4.

Men's doubles final: 6-Martin Damm (Czech Republic)/Leander Paes (India) beat 2-Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden)/Max Mirnyi (Belarus) 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-3.

Mixed doubles final: 5-Martina Navratilova/Bob Bryan (US) beat Kveta Peschke/Martin Damm (Czech Republic) 6-2, 6-3.—Reuters