Service with a style

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Shades of last year popped to the surface, but only for the briefest of moments, and the damage was contained to one service game.

That was essentially the only time Maria Sharapova’s nerve and serve truly faltered -- three double faults in one game in the first set, including two in a row -- in the Australian Open final today against Ana Ivanovic of Serbia.

But the serve, which so bedeviled her in the final against Serena Williams last year, pulled her out of trouble later in the first set today when she was on the back foot, two points from losing it.

That escape seemed to embolden her and the fifth-seeded Sharapova lost only two points on her serve in the second set, as she beat No. 4 Ivanovic, 7-5, 6-3, in 1 hour 31 minutes.

Sharapova dropped to her knees after Ivanovic’s final forehand sailed wide and was moved to tears. It was her third Grand Slam tournament championship, and the 20-year-old Russian, incredibly, is one major from a career Slam.

She added the Australian title to a resume that already included triumphs at Wimbledon (2004) and the U.S. Open (2006), and now is missing only the French Open.

But that’s in the future.

Sharapova was extraordinarily focused from the first week in Melbourne, treating her second-round match against Lindsay Davenport like a semifinal or a final.

“Whatever it took, I was going to be there no matter what,” said Sharapova, who did not lose a set in seven matches here, including a quarterfinal in which she dramatically ended Justine Henin’s 32-match winning streak.

There were plenty of reasons for the emotion. The 20-year-old Ivanovic, who was playing in her first Australian Open final and her second major final, got choked up during her on-court speech when she thanked her supporters.

Inspiration was hardly lacking for Sharapova, who struggled with shoulder problems most of last year.

In a heartfelt speech during the award ceremony, she dedicated the title to Jane Joyce, the late mother of her longtime hitting partner, Michael Joyce. Sharapova later spoke of how they often thought about his mother, who died last year after a long battle with cancer, and how “tennis became so small” and put everything else in perspective. Said Joyce: “Maybe my mom was helping her from up above or something.”

Sharapova was also self-deprecating after an official said she had been close to winning this title last year. Williams defeated her, 6-1, 6-2, and it set a dissonant tone for her 2007.

“I wasn’t [close],” Sharapova said. “I only won three games. If someone had told me in the middle of last year, I’d be standing on this stage . . . with the big one, I’d probably say, ‘Forget it.’ ”

Other inspiration came from tennis legend Billie Jean King, and the fact that Sharapova didn’t want to lose again on her mother’s birthday.

Before the final, King sent Sharapova a text message, saying, “Champions take chances and pressure is a privilege.”

King left out the part about not hitting a bad drop shot when you are two points from winning a set. That’s what happened to Ivanovic after she had rebounded from an early service-break deficit to pull even when Sharapova double faulted three times in the eighth game of the first set.

Ivanovic held to go up, 5-4, and Sharapova was down, 0-30, on her serve in the next game. At 15-30, Ivanovic hit a poor drop shot that landed in the net, and two points later, Sharapova was out of trouble, pulling to 5-5.

“It hurts. I can tell you that,” Ivanovic said of the ill-timed shot.

She was still smiling, though, and will rise to No. 2 in the world when the rankings are released Monday. “It’s a little bit disappointing because I felt like I had a lot of chances in the first set and I didn’t use them,” she said.

Sharapova took advantage of Ivanovic’s shaky forehand and broke her in the next game, then held at love to take the first set, 7-5.

Said Sharapova: “I didn’t get frustrated. I was trying to be steady. It was in her hands. . . . I think I served my way out of trouble in that game.”

And the ghosts of last year slid away, banished to the rearview mirror.

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lisa.dillman@latimes.com

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Three and counting

Maria Sharapova won her third Grand Slam singles title:

*--* Yr Championship Opp. in Final Final Score ’04 Wimbledon S. Williams 6-1, 6-4 ’06 U.S. Open Justine Henin 6-4, 6-4 ’08 Aust. Open Ana Ivanovic 7-5, 6-3 *--*