Reigning champion and World No. 2 Maria Sharapova of Russia ended the dream run of Angelique Kerber of Germany on Saturday in Rome, as the Russian beat the German in straight sets with a 6-3 6-4 scoreline and secured her berth in the final of the 2012 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, a WTA Premier Event, being played here in Rome, Italy.

Re-live the exciting moments of this duel!

The Russian took 1 hour and 29 minutes to beat the German. Sharapova struggled a bit with her serve, but she managed to convert those half chances at crucial junctures. She smacked 27 winners as compared to Kerber’s 9 – which made all the difference in deciding the outcome of this encounter.

After 42 minutes of play - Maria Sharapova claimed the first set. The Russian earned 63% points on her first serve, as she smacked 9 winners and got benefited from Kerber’s 15 unforced errors. The Russian converted 2 out of 7 break-points. She mustered 33 points in total to win this first set.

Both the contenders exchanged breaks early on in the second-set, but then Sharapova earned the decisive one in the fifth game – and maintained that lead till the end to win the match. In the final tomorrow, Sharapova will take on the Chinese tennis sensation Na Li, who easily made it to the final, as her opponent Serena Williams withdrew due to an injury – prior to the start of the contest.

X