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Battle of the Babes: Maria 'The Screamer' Sharapova v Ana 'The Shrieker' Ivanovic
Last updated at 00:24am on 26.01.08Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic, two 20-year-olds who have helped bring glamour back to women's tennis, will face each other in 'The Battle of the Babes' on Saturday after winning their semi-finals at Melbourne Park.
Who will have the audio edge - judge for yourself here:
On the face of it, the powerbrokers of women's tennis might be concerned about the preponderance of top players with difficult-to-pronounce names who emanate from grim corners of Eastern Europe.
But when you play like they do, speak different languages so impeccably and — this is important, rightly or wrongly — look like they do, it is the marketing men's dream.
Solving a problem like Maria: Sharapova
So imagine their delight that the Australian Open final will be between Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic, with the former the clear favourite.
Sharapova was far more convincing in her semi-final with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Jelena Jankovic, while Ivanovic needed to rely on the notoriously brittle nerve of Daniela Hantuchova to win 0-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The two finalists have much in common — both had displaced upbringings so their tennis talent, spotted when they were very young, could be honed.
It is well known that Sharapova moved from Siberia to Florida when she was nine, slightly less so that Ivanovic was shifted from Belgrade to Roger Federer's hometown of Basle at 14.
Such upheaval inevitably shaped the Russian into the hard-faced character she is, driven on remorselessly by her father Yuri — warned for his aggressive courtside behaviour earlier in the tournament — who arrived in America with less than $1,000 in his pocket.
Mother Yelena is rarely seen and yesterday there was a reminder of just how much was sacrificed in Maria's upbringing as she allowed herself a rare reflection on her mum's role.
'When I first went to the United States, I didn't see her for two years,' she recalled of the visa and money problems that forced their separation.
'I barely talked to her on the phone. You didn't have great communication back then but I always remember her writing me letters and I'd write her letters. We talked maybe once in six months.
'I remember the day that I saw her after those two years. She just looked at me and it was like “Oh my, you've changed so much”.
'It's weird because it's not like she saw me on TV like she does now. It would be so much tougher if I had to do it now.
'She just kept me working on my Russian essays and made me read. And she's the one that always takes me to museums and she knows when exhibitions are going on. She'll take me to musicals. She's a very wonderful woman.
Game, set and match: Ivanovic celebrates
'When I'm done with tournaments, I see her. She sometimes comes the week before Grand Slams. She takes care of things at home and does my fan mail and all that.'
There are obviously clear lines of demarcation in the household, to put it mildly, but it has produced a fearsomely talented athlete.
Freed from last year's shoulder problems, she now looks on the brink of adding to her Wimbledon 2004 title and U.S. Open title of 2006.
Jankovic was slightly injured in the semi-final but it is doubtful she would have lived with Sharapova anyway on this form and Ivanovic will have to improve considerably to compete.
Dubbed 'Aussie Ana' by some here — she has relatives in Melbourne and has a daily ghosted newspaper column — Ivanovic will not lack support. She has a more appealing personality, too.
SHE has a 2-2 career record against Sharapova, which includes the thrashing she gave her in last year's French Open when the Russian was physically struggling.
The 20-year-old Serb went on to flop in her first Grand Slam final, against Justine Henin, and has to start quicker than yesterday if she is not to do so again.
It took her 45 minutes to win a game against the elegant Slovakian who eventually fell apart in a welter of negative thought from 4-4 in the third.
In fact, Hantuchova was so irritated as Ivanovic clawed her way back that she complained to the umpire about the squeaking from her opponent's rubber-soled shoe as they moved over the surface of the court.
Inevitably, this has led to the final being dubbed The Squeak versus The Shriek due to Sharapova's far more obnoxious emissions as she hits the ball.
'I have now got the experience from the French final and I know that I am going to have to be there from the first point,' said Ivanovic, who has guaranteed that she will move up to the world No 2 spot when the new rankings come out next week.
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