MOSCOW, May 12 (R-Sport) - Serena Williams crushed Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-4 on Sunday to win the $5.1 million Madrid Open, her 50th career title.
The American also retained her world No. 1 status with the victory on the clay courts of the Spanish capital, and moves to within three titles of Monica Seles' haul at No. 10 on the all-time list.
After meekly surrendering the first set, world No. 2 Sharapova broke instantly in the second to catapult herself back into the reckoning.
But a Sharapova double fault allowed her 31-year-old opponent to wrestle back the momentum and the American never really looked back.
Williams cruised through her service games to go 5-4 up, and another double fault gave Williams three championship points. On the first, Sharapova went long on a baseline shot to gift Williams her fourth title of the season and only her seventh on clay.
Sharapova's abysmal record against Williams goes to 2-13, with the Russian's last triumph coming nearly a decade ago in Los Angeles. Just this season, Sharapova lost to Williams in the final of the Miami Masters in March, and in the semifinals in Doha.
Williams collects a winner's check for $835,000, with Sharapova taking home just under half that.
