adminSharapova (25) won 6-2, 6-2 in one hour and 21 minutes to claim the Indian Wells title for the second time.
In a battle of two former world number ones, Sharapova’s shot-making ability held sway as she fired 33 winners.
The four-time Grand Slam champion moved up to second in the world rankings behind Serena Williams yesterday.
“This is what I do all the work for is these moments,” said Sharapova. “You feel like everything has paid off.”
Sharapova broke to love at the first opportunity and the pace of her returns kept Wozniacki off balance at the baseline throughout the match.
Wozniacki’s father and coach, Piotr, came on court to dispense some advice at the changeover after game five but it did not stop Sharapova breaking again.
The reigning French Open champion finally faced two break points when serving for the set but saved them with blistering backhands, before closing it out with a forehand arrowed down the line after 38 minutes.
Sharapova hit 17 winners to Wozniacki’s one in the opening set, and a thumping forehand drive set up break point number four at the start of the second, the Dane giving it up with a double fault.
Wozniacki, 22, stopped a run of five games against her with a hold, but another visit from her father failed to shift the momentum in her favour as the winners kept coming from the other end of the court.
The Dane fought valiantly but her trademark defensive skills were no match for the barrage raining down on her, and Sharapova broke for the fourth time in a lengthy game at 4-2 before serving out to love.
“I think it was a tough match, a tough battle, and there were a lot of games that went to deuce and a lot of long games,” added Sharapova.
“I always felt like I was always a foot ahead, especially with the breaks. I was able to serve well today, and that helped me.”
Wozniacki said: “She was putting pressure on me from the start. She was serving very well. I felt like everything that she wanted to do today was going in.
“She was making very few errors, and if she did, then it was really at the times where it didn’t really matter. I have to say she just played too well today.”
Meanwhile, Sharapova, her first title of 2013 safely under her belt, looks poised to join the battle for the world number one spot in women’s tennis, but her real appetite is for Grand Slam glory.
The Russian completed a career Grand Slam with her French Open triumph last year, when she also briefly returned to the top of the rankings for the first time since 2008. Her run to Sunday’s Indian Wells final ensured she’ll supplant Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka as No. 2 in the world behind American Serena Williams.
“Number one is a great number,” Sharapova said. “Is it something that all of us want? Absolutely. No doubt. It’s a no-brainer question.
“But I think at this point in my career, titles and Grand Slams are just a bigger priority.”
After her French Open victory last year, Sharapova was ousted in the fourth round at Wimbledon, and she lost in the semi-finals at the US Open.
She fell in the semis again at the Australian Open in January to China’s Li Na.— AFP.
Online Reporter