BRISBANE — Maria Sharapova beat Ana Ivanovic in the final of the Brisbane International Saturday in a display that bodes well for her chances at the Australian Open. It has been seven years since Sharapova won her only Australian Open title but if she can take her form from Brisbane to Melbourne, a second title does not seem out of the question. Sharapova had to work hard to beat Ivanovic, coming from behind to beat her 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3 but the Serbian is a good measuring stick. Sharapova not only beat Ivanovic in the 2008 Australian Open final but both women are in devastating form heading toward the first Grand Slam of the season, starting on Jan. 19. Roger Federer, meanwhile, has a chance to go into the Australian Open with 1,000 career match wins to his credit after beating fourth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-2 Saturday to reach the final of the Brisbane International. The 17-time Grand Slam champion came into the 2015 season with 996 wins and has had three more on the way to Sunday's final, where he'll meet third-seeded Milos Raonic. He has a 7-1 win-loss record against the 24-year-old Canadian, who served 34 aces to grind out a 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) win over second-seeded Kei Nishikori in the other semifinal. Venus Williams won her first title of the year when she recovered from a set and a break down for a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over top-seeded Carolina Wozniacki in the final of the ASB Classic at Auckland, New Zealand. Her sister, Serena Williams, missed a chance to win a third Hopman Cup title when she and US teammate John Isner lost 2-1 to Poland in the final at Perth. The No. 1-ranked Williams finished off a rusty week with losses in the singles and the mixed doubles Saturday night. Agnieszka Radwanska gave Poland the lead with a 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-1 win in the women's singles before Isner leveled the final with a 7-6 (10), 6-4 win over Jerzy Janowicz. Radwanska and Janowicz combined to win the deciding doubles match 7-5, 6-3 to claim Poland's first title in the international mixed team event. In Qatar, David Ferrer made a heartening start to the new season by winning the Qatar Open title, defeating Tomas Berdych, 6-4, 7-5. In Chennai, defending champion and top seed Stanislas Wawrinka cruised into the Chennai Open final with a 7-5, 6-3 win over fourth seed David Goffin of Belgium. Wawrinka's opponent in Sunday's final will be Slovenian qualifier Aljaz Bedene, who continued his amazing seed-slaying run with a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (10-8) victory over third seed Roberto Bautista-Agut. In China, Simona Halep swept past Timea Bacsinszky 6-2, 6-2 to claim the Shenzhen Open title Saturday. — Agencies
