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KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. - The first sign Maria Sharapova was unraveling came midway through the first set, when she got increasingly annoyed at a small yellow plane droning overhead, trailing a banner for new pro soccer team Miami FC.
``I think we got the point that there was a soccer match going on,'' Sharapova would say later.
Svetlana Kuznetsova noticed the plane, too, but shrugged it off.
Sharapova played as if she was unsettled, and Kuznetsova, the lesser-known and lower-ranked of the two Russians, took advantage. She yanked Sharapova all over the court with her powerful forehand and won the NASDAQ-100 Open final, 6-4, 6-3, on Saturday in Key Biscayne.
Even more surprising than the result was the reaction of the crowd, which decided early it was on Kuznetsova's side. Perhaps it was fallout from Sharapova's semifinal, during which she was booed for perceived poor gamesmanship and indifference to opponent Tatiana Golovin's ankle injury, which forced Golovin to retire from the match.
The crowd of 12,555 didn't boo Sharapova, but it cheered much louder for Kuznetsova.
For me, it's a bit unusual to play Maria and you have the crowd behind you,'' Kuznetsova said.Of course, I was trying to get the best of it. I was trying just to focus and get more energy.''
Asked why she thinks the crowd was on her side, Kuznetsova broke into a sly smile and replied: ``I don't want to get into that. I guess I played a good match against Martina Hingis, and I played very good strokes against Amelie Mauresmo.
``I heard a lot about the match in the semifinals. I cannot say anything about that, because I was out to dinner, and I didn't watch anything. I guess Tatiana had a bad injury and was fighting very hard and the public wanted her to make it through.''
DIFFICULT ROAD
Kuznetsova, who had not won a title since September 2004, also proved to be a fighter. She made her way through a difficult draw, beating former world No. 1 Hingis in the third round and current No. 1 Mauresmo in the semifinals.
The fourth-ranked Sharapova came in with a better resume. She was 21-3 this year and coming off a title in Indian Wells, Calif.
But Saturday, the 14th-ranked Kuznetsova was the better player. She said she was on the court ``day and night'' during the offseason, perfecting her groundstrokes and working on her serve. She was determined to win a big title again after not winning one since the 2004 U.S. Open.
I've been prepared so well,'' said Kuznetsova, who won $533,350 and moves into the top 10 with the victory.I feel pretty confident right now.
``Before I was trying to hit the ball too hard. Now I'm just playing half my power, and the ball seems to go pretty fast, so I am pretty excited about that.''
`I CAME UP SHORT'
Sharapova acknowledged she didn't have the energy to match Kuznetsova. She had not played her best tennis the entire tournament, being pushed to a third set by Golovin and Maria Kirilenko.
She even struggled with the new instant-replay system, going 0 of 11 on challenges.
At the end of the day, I just came up short,'' she said.I just wasn't physically ready to run down a lot of balls. When I hit great shots, she picked up the ball on the rise pretty early and was able to hit a bigger shot. My feet didn't quite move to the second balls that she hit deep and hard. I wanted to play my game, but I couldn't really keep up with the pace of the match.''
Kuznetsova said she first became aware of Sharapova on the very grounds on which she beat her Saturday.
They were both juniors, playing in the Orange Bowl tournament.
Maria was not in Russia; she had moved to United States, and one day I heard somebody talk so much about Maria Sharapova, new Russian,'' Kuznetsova said.I went to see a few games, and I saw her playing. That was the first time I saw her.''
She said it doesn't bother her that Sharapova gets more attention than the other Russian players.
She's a great player, was No. 1, has been a long time in the top five and won a Grand Slam,'' she said.She gets more attention in the commercials, things out of the court. But this is everyday life.
``Maybe I wouldn't be able to spend two, three hours in a photo shoot; maybe it's not for me. I never think about it. Sometimes it's a bit sad, because so many players would get a little bit more attention, but I'm just very happy with myself, the way I play.''
PLENTY TO SING ABOUT
Kuznetsova revealed after the match that she loved the song that blared through the stadium speakers during her warmup.
It's something about `I'm so excited, I'm gonna like it' or whatever,'' she said, referring to the Pointer Sisters' song.I was pretty pumped. I love this song.''
And Saturday, it was her perfect anthem.
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(c) 2006, The Miami Herald. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service.
