By Maarten Heida
February 27 2005

In a hard fought battle in the Doha final, Maria Sharapova managed to overcome the tough challenge of Australian star Alicia Molik. Sharapova had to use her full array of shots to overcome the attacking play of the Australian in what was the first appearance in the Doha final for both players. Alicia Molik got off to a good start, breaking Sharapova early and putting her under constant pressure. With excellent deep groundstrokes Molik didn’t give Sharapova a chance to take over the rallies and dominate them. Both players played excellent tennis in the first, with the first break being the telling, handing the set to Molik 6-4.

In the second set Sharapova seemed to move up a gear and as Molik seemed to move down one, Sharapova was suddenly dominating the match. She raced to a 5-0 lead in the set, only to take it 6-1.

The final set was a real belter, with a break for Sharapova in the 5th game, after putting constant pressure on Molik in each of her previous service games. Molik clung on, constantly battling with Sharapova for every point, in what seemed to be a real clash of the titans between two new, young stars of the women’s game.

In the 10th and what turned out to be the final game, Molik even managed to force a breakpoint. Much to the disappointment of the crowd however, who were anxious for more top tennis, she couldn’t manage to convert them. A jubilant Sharapova could then celebrate the first Doha-title of her career and another notch on her ever-growing belt of scalps of top ranked players.