A Victory and a Finals Date against Serena Williams

Sharapova won in a deceptively tough 6-2, 6,3 match vs. Maria Kirilenko that took 1.5 hours.  She will face Serena Williams on Saturday in the gold-medal match.

Personal note:  After the match ended, I left my shooting spot and headed to the photo workroom to upload my photos to the newspaper.  To reach the photo workroom I had to walk through a short tunnel.  As I as walking through, Maria Sharapova was walking in the opposite direction.  My heart skipped a beat as I practically rubbed elbows with the career grandslam winner.