I agree with you Handy.
If Sharapova, the clear no. 1. player on hard court (especially with JHH out) cann't beat Serena, that would be ugly. Serena is playing well, but Maria is not in the sam class with her other opponents. Sharapova played well against Kim in the semi, but she was still not in her best shape. Ans she still managed to beat the 4th ranked player, a home favourit easily. I watched the match, and if Clijsters would break Maria 6th time in the 1st set, the Russian would rebreak 6th times. She is so strong mentally, put her mind right on to the match, especially with the match on the line or important points coming up. She made some easy mistakes in the previous rounds, but which women didn't? She has to serve over 60% and she has to cut the number of the double faults. That was the only issue with her i think so far. I understand she didn't want to give some easy balls for an aggresive player like Kim, so she was trying to serve not too weak even on second serves. But hit double faults on break points is not too wise. She must find the balance with those second serves.
Basically, i think Maria is at least as aggresive as Williams. But on the long rallies, the Russians should have an edge. Serena seems quite fit, i agree with that. But i think she is not as fit as her opponent. One thing is clear, Serena is very, very motivated. She wants to prove everybody wrong who doubted her return, and she is going on a good way to that. But Sharapova has revevenge on her mind after the heartbreaking loss in the 2005 AO semi-final against Serena. She won the first set 6-2, lost the other two 5-7 and 6-8. She could easily win that match and she knows it exactly. It seemed for a time that Sharapova is falling apart in the semi-finals, but last year she came through at the US Open and here she beats Clijsters easily. She is as confident as she would ever be.
I think if Maria will be on her game right from the start, she will beat Serena in straight sets, someting like 6-3, 6-4. If he won't, it could be an interesting match, but i think Sharapova would still pull the trigger and win the trophy, her 3rd major.
