By Bill Scott Mar 26, 2007, 5:06 GMT
Miami - Top seed Maria Sharapova took revenge for a Wimbledon semi-final defeat as she beat Venus Williams 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 on Sunday to advance at the Miami Masters.
Sharapova had to struggle to avenge her 2005 semi-final loss to the American at the All England club as she defended the grass-court title.
The win came on another record day for attendance.
Even with the World Golf Championships at Doral concluding Sunday, 17,051 fans flocked to the tennis for the Sunday day session, setting another session attendance record.
It marked the fourth consecutive session record set at the tournament, and the fifth overall. A total of 124,633 have visited the event over the first nine sessions compared to 114,886 in 2006.
Sharapova's Miami outing was error filled, with the top seed handing over the second set on a fifth double-fault her way to 13 on the night.
The Russian's unforced error count of 36 was dwarfed by the 55 of Williams, a two-time Miami champion now unseeded.
Second seed Justine Henin staged a miracle recovery from 1-5 down in the final set, denying nervous Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano.
Former number 1 Henin managed to rally for a 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5) victory after Razzano twice stood two points away from the match.
Henin joined fourth-seeded compatriot Kim Clijsters in advancing after the soon-to-be-married player had a much easier time in a win against Australian Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-2.
Clijsters claimed the title in 2005 over Sharapova and is plying the event for the last time before retiring in the autumn.
There was a comfortable victory for third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova as the Russian rolled over Croatian Jelena Kostanic Tosic 6-4, 6-2.
Two-time winner Martina Hingis, the fifth seed, was pondering a pause after dropping a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 decision to 17-year-old Pole Agnieszka Radwanska.
The Swiss said that after a month of losing matches she should be winning, she needs to regroup. 'I need to recharge my whole body and mostly my head. I'm getting tired of losing matches which I'm supposed to win.'
Radwanska, who will not compete in May and could miss the French Open due to her high-school exams, was thrilled after defeating her former tennis idol.
'Before the match, I didn't believe I can beat her, because she's the favourite,' the 49th-ranked player said. 'And a few years ago she was my favourite player.'
Men's second seed Rafael Nadal was handed a free ride into the fourth round when injured Belgian Olivier Rochus pulled out hours before their match.
Rochus was troubled by a foot injury.
Number 3 Andy Roddick continued to patch his game together with a win over Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-4. But Paul-Henri Mathieu stunned fifth seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 6-3, 7-6 (8-6).
'I'm still finding the ways to get through matches,' said Roddick. 'It definitely wasn't a pretty win out there. I have a lot that I can improve on.'
Fast-rising young contenders Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray won easily.
Tenth seed Djokovic, who lost last weekend's Indian Wells final to Nadal, beaten Frenchman Michael Llodra 6-4, 6-1. Number 12 Murray ended the run of American lucky loser Robert Kendrick 6-3, 6-1.
'I chose to focus on putting a lot of balls in the court and not going for the lines,' said Murray. 'He played sort of high-risk tennis, made more mistakes than me. But it was a pretty good match.'
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