Maria's good form of late continued at the Premier event at Indian Wells, where the Russian reached the biggest semifinal of her career, stunning Agnieszka Radwanska and Petra Kvitova on her way to the last four.
Having won her first singles titles in 5 years a couple of weeks ago in Pattaya, Kirilenko decided to take a break from doubles and to focus entirely on singles. With a series of promising results, among which a quarterfinal at Wimbledon and a semifinal at the Olympic Games, she is hoping to crack the top 10 for the first time this season.
For me, the most important change I noticed in Maria is her attitude. Before she was a pretty face who hanged out with the big guns, but was unable to beat them. I felt she was giving up easy during tough matches and was lacking the consistency to get the results she wanted. Now she is more composed, more focused on her game, and is starting to show a fighting spirit that helps her win matches even when she's not playing her best tennis.
Her result this week in Indian Wells is even more impressive as she took out two very difficult opponents. Agnieszka Radwanska has had a superb start to the season with titles in Auckland and Sydney, and she's beaten the Russian in their last five encounters. Hoping to avenge a heartbreaking loss in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon last season, Kirilenko started the match really motivated, crushing through the first set. Aga came back, but was unable to dismiss Maria's challenge, who showed nerves of steal to close out a superb 6-1,3-6,7-5 victory.
She followed that up with another stellar performance to end Petra Kvitova's eight-match winning streak. The Czech was finding some of her best form in the Middle East winning her 10th career title in Dubai, but her erratic display cost her the match.
With a newly improved mental game, Kirilenko goes on to face old-foe, Maria Sharapova, for a place in the final. Let's do this!
photo: GETTY IMAGES
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