Sharapova eases past Clijsters

MELBOURNE, Jan 25 (Reuters) Top seed Maria Sharapova eased into her first Australian Open final with a 6-4 6-2 victory over fourth seed Kim Clijsters today.

The 19-year-old Sharapova continued to struggle with her game, but was too strong for the Belgian making her last appearance at Melbourne Park, sealing victory on her first match point in one hour 23 minutes.

The pair exchanged two early breaks each in a scrappy first set before Sharapova took the Belgian's serve again in the 10th game to secure it in 42 minutes.

Sharapova, the US Open champion, raced into a 3-0 lead in the second set and despite serving eight double faults and making 33 unforced errors the Russian will play unseeded American Serena Williams in the final.

REUTERS PM SSC1246