In a rematch of the 2013 Miami Masters final, the top two women in the world faced off against each other for the crown of Madrid champion. There was a lot more than just a title at stake as Maria Sharapova faced off against top seed and defending champion Serena Williams with the world no.1 ranking up for grabs.

With the no. 2 seed managing to get her ‘first set’ off the American in all almost 5 years at the Sony Open, things were looking up and perhaps, there was a sense that Sharapova could reverse a very lopsided 2-12 head to head record against the legendary American. Since her devastating shoulder injury the world no.2 has returned as a very competent clay court player and had her best chance to beat Serena on the red clay of Madrid, a surface on which she boasted of a 25 match winning streak, running back to last year’s French Open.

Over the past couple of years, Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova have taken the mantle of the top three players in women’s tennis. Consistent performances at Grand Slams have seen the trio meet time and time again at important stages in tournaments with Williams emerging the dominating player in the rivalry. With Azarenka finally able to pull off a victory against the American at Doha, earlier this year, the onus was on Sharapova to bring the fight to the world no. 1 and prove that she can be a contender against the best in the world.

The Russian was able to do just that and dominated the top seed from the baseline with confident and accurate tennis to take the first set 6-4, her first against the 15 time Major winner since 2008. The top seed has the highest win percentage in the WTA at 45 % in matches in which she has lost the opening set and she proved why today as she got her groove going in the latter stages of the second set to equalize proceedings by taking the second set 6-3, eventually blitzing Sharapova off the court in the decider with a 6-0 score line, taking the last 10 games in a row to win a record 6th Sony Open title in Key Biscayne, Miami.

Following on from World no.2 Maria Sharapova’s dominating victory over Jelena Jankovic, world no.1 Serena Williams steamrolled defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska 6-0, 6-3 needing only 65 minutes to move into her 7th Miami final.

The 5 time champion blazed through the first set winning 6 games on the trot to go 1 set to love up after twenty five minutes. She added one more game for a 7 game streak before Radwanska finally managed to get on the board and got some applause from the crowd just for that. It merely delayed the inevitable with the world no.1 continuing her barn storming performance to wrap things up with ease 6-3.

It was a fabulous day at Key Biscayne in Miami with the weather and conditions being just right for a great day of tennis. Starting proceedings were two former world no.1s in 3rd seed Maria Sharapova and 22nd seed Jelena Jankovic, who were facing off for a place in the 2013 Sony Open Final in a bid to claim their first title in Miami event.

With so much at stake for both players, the stage was set for a crackerjack of a tennis match but to the disappointment of tennis fans around the world, the battle of the titans ended on a predictable note, with Sharapova carrying forward her great form from Indian Wells, earlier this month, to steamroll the Serb in straight sets 6-2, 6-1, needing only an hour and three minutes to complete her 10th straight sets victory in a row.

World No. 2 Maria Sharapova managed to edge out seventh seed Sara Errani in two tightly contested sets 7-5, 7-5 to move closer to her first title in Miami, after being runner up the last two years in a row. For a place in the final, she faces former World no. 1 Jelena Jankovic. The 22nd seed overcame 15th seed Roberta Vinci in two and half hours 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3 fighting back from a break down in the deciding set.

Sharapova and Errani squared off in a rematch of their Indian Wells quarterfinal which the 3rd seed won in straight sets. Their two and a half hour grueling encounter saw 10 breaks of serve and 18 double faults. 14 of those came from the Russian’s racquet. Still, she was able to save three set points at 4-5 down in the opening set to rattle off the next three games to go 1-0 up in the match.

Eugenie Bouchard was eliminated in the second round of the Sony Open on Friday night, a joint ATP Masters 1000/WTA Premier event currently underway in Miami, Florida. The 19-year-old Canadian, who was awarded a main draw wildcard for the event in Key Biscayne, was defeated 6-2, 6-0 by an in-form world no. 2 Maria Sharapova of Russia.

In a match that was delayed by rain and a power outage on Centre Court at the start of the second set, Sharapova’s focus wasn’t wavered by the elements. Last week’s champion in Indian Wells used her powerful groundstrokes and improved movement to gain the advantage in many of the rallies despite Bouchard’s defensive efforts to extend them.

The women's finals at the 2013 BNP Paribas Open saw former world no.1s and two time finalists Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki square off for a chance at joining an elite group of 7 women (including Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova) who have won twice at Indian Wells. It was also a matchup of contrasting styles with the hard hitting Russian taking on the counterpunching style of the young Dane.

Maria Sharapova’s style raw aggression proved to be too much for Wozniacki as the Russian diva prevailed in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 needing only 81 minutes to win the 28th title of her career.