Sharapova in shock at triumph

Teenage tennis sensation Maria Sharapova capped off her stunning year by overcoming an injured Serena Williams 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the final of the season-ending WTA Tour Championships in Los Angeles.

"I'm still in shock. I can't believe the way I pulled it out," said the 17-year-old Russian, who fell to the ground and screamed in joy at the end of a contest lasting one hour and 46 minutes.

The victory was worth $1million and lifted her to a career-high of No4 in the world rankings. "It's very unreal the way I stuck in there. It's been an amazing year," she said.

After falling behind 4-0 in the deciding set, the Wimbledon champion reeled off six games in a row to overpower an ailing Williams.

The American took a medical time-out for t reatment on an abdominal strain after the seventh game of the second set.

After returning to the court 5-2 down, Williams lost about 40mph from her service speed, reducing it to the puff of a weekend hacker. She also had trouble moving to her right.

Sharapova easily won the second set but, in the third, Williams began to go for broke with her groundstrokes and cracked winners to all angles of the court to storm into a 4-0 lead. She won the first 11 points and twice broke Sharapova's serve. After the third game, the trainer reappeared and put strapping around around the American ' s stomach. Williams also put an ice bag under her top on later changeovers.

Sharapova at last held her serve and then broke in the next game when Williams netted a forehand.

In the eighth game, Williams double --faulted twice in a row to fall behind 40-15. After Sharapova went wide with a backhand error, Williams double-faulted for a third time and the set was tied at 4-4.