Tour officials would have you believe that the 2009 Grand Slam season was another compelling, fun-filled display of women's tennis, but it was hardly that. It was a mess. If there was an overriding theme, it was something along the lines of "I'm An Emotional Wreck."
What do you think Maria Sharapova should do? Bring her father, Yuri, back to the box? This can't be about the serve only, Elena Dementieva has been in the top 10 without a proper serve for ages. Sharapova risks ending up in the Martina Hingis/Daniela Hantuchova category: at their best when they are "only 17" and unable to repeat their earlier results after age 20. By the way, if Sharapova's career history holds up then she should win the 2010 French Open. -- Don, Europe
Former champion Maria Sharapova was the biggest name to fall as she lost an epic three-set match with fellow-Russian Maria Kirilenko on a wet and windy opening day at the Australian Open.
Maria Sharapova landed the Toray Pan Pacific Open title in Tokyo on Saturday as her final opponent Jelena Jankovic was forced to retire injured in the first set.
Unseeded Maria Sharapova set up a final meeting with fellow-former world number one Jelena Jankovic at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo on Friday, with a hard-fought three-set victory over Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.
Maria Sharapova stayed on course for her first tournament victory since returning to the WTA Tour with a battling three-sets victory over Alisa Kleybanova in the Toray Pan Pacific Open on Wednesday.
Top seeds Dinara Safina and Maria Sharapova crashed out of the U.S. Open to teenagers in each of their marathon three-set matches on Saturday in major upsets at Flushing Meadows.
Fourth seed Elena Dementieva defeated fellow-Russian Maria Sharapova in straight sets on Sunday to claim the WTA Rogers Cup in Toronto.
Maria Sharapova has been beaten in the semifinals of the LA Championships, losing in three sets to 10th-seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta.
Maria Sharapova took a step closer to her first tournament victory since January 2008 as she moved into the semifinals of the L.A. Women's Tennis Championships on Friday night.
Tour officials would have you believe that the 2009 Grand Slam season was another compelling, fun-filled display of women's tennis, but it was hardly that. It was a mess. If there was an overriding theme, it was something along the lines of "I'm An Emotional Wreck."
What do you think Maria Sharapova should do? Bring her father, Yuri, back to the box? This can't be about the serve only, Elena Dementieva has been in the top 10 without a proper serve for ages. Sharapova risks ending up in the Martina Hingis/Daniela Hantuchova category: at their best when they are "only 17" and unable to repeat their earlier results after age 20. By the way, if Sharapova's career history holds up then she should win the 2010 French Open. -- Don, Europe
Former champion Maria Sharapova was the biggest name to fall as she lost an epic three-set match with fellow-Russian Maria Kirilenko on a wet and windy opening day at the Australian Open.
Maria Sharapova landed the Toray Pan Pacific Open title in Tokyo on Saturday as her final opponent Jelena Jankovic was forced to retire injured in the first set.
Unseeded Maria Sharapova set up a final meeting with fellow-former world number one Jelena Jankovic at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo on Friday, with a hard-fought three-set victory over Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.
Maria Sharapova stayed on course for her first tournament victory since returning to the WTA Tour with a battling three-sets victory over Alisa Kleybanova in the Toray Pan Pacific Open on Wednesday.
Top seeds Dinara Safina and Maria Sharapova crashed out of the U.S. Open to teenagers in each of their marathon three-set matches on Saturday in major upsets at Flushing Meadows.
Fourth seed Elena Dementieva defeated fellow-Russian Maria Sharapova in straight sets on Sunday to claim the WTA Rogers Cup in Toronto.
Maria Sharapova has been beaten in the semifinals of the LA Championships, losing in three sets to 10th-seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta.
Maria Sharapova took a step closer to her first tournament victory since January 2008 as she moved into the semifinals of the L.A. Women's Tennis Championships on Friday night.
Maria Sharapova continued her rehabilitation from injury with a comfortable victory at the L.A. Women's Tennis Championships on an opening day that saw early exits for three of the four seeded players in action.
Former champion Maria Sharapova came safely through a testing first round encounter with Ukraine's Viktoriya Kutusova as she won 7-5 6-4 on Court One on Monday.
Top seed Dinara Safina battled from a set down to defeat Belarusian teenager Victoria Azarenka at the French Open, but there was no escape for scheduled semifinal opponent Maria Sharapova who suffered a humiliating exit.
Maria Sharapova stepped up her comeback after injury to claim the scalp of 11th seed Nadia Pedrova to reach the third round of the French Open in Paris on Wednesday.
Maria Sharapova's comeback from injury continued with a comfortable victory over Darya Kustova of Belarus in the second round of the Warsaw Open on Wednesday.
Maria Sharapova returned to competitive singles after a near 10-month absence on Monday as she bids to prove her fitness for the forthcoming French Open in Paris.
Injury-plagued Maria Sharapova is returning to WTA Tour action at next week's Warsaw Open in Poland, the former world number one announced on her personal Web site.
Tennis superstar Maria Sharapova returned to action after a seven month injury layoff in a doubles match at Indian Wells in California.
Russian former world number one Maria Sharapova will return to competitive action after a six-month injury absence in this week's tournament at Indian Wells.
1. Where does the Nadal-Federer passion play go from here? You'd be hard-pressed to name a more gripping and textured rivalry in professional sports. One versus two. Lefty versus righty. Grit versus polish. Nouveau versus classic. Will versus Grace, as it were. In 2008, Nadal beat Federer all four times they met --including their spellbinding Wimbledon final -- and assumed the No. l ranking in the process. Yet Federer recovered and enter 2009 within a single Major title of tying Pete Sampras' record. So long as both remain healthy, Rafa-Roger the best theater in tennis, no matter what happens.
If Nadal went straight from Paris to Wimbledon, skipped any grass court warm-ups, and lost to Ivan Navarro (ATP #133) or Joseph Sirianni (ATP #154), you would question his judgement ... I hope. Same for Ivanovic and Sharapova? -- Gerry Gollin, Redlands, CA
Third seed Maria Sharapova has been dumped out of Wimbledon in spectacular fashion, crashing to a straight sets defeat at the hands of little-known fellow- Russian Alla Kudryavtseva.
Top-seeded Maria Sharapova was a shock casualty at the French Open on Monday when she crashed 6-7 7-6 6-2 against fellow Russian Dinara Safina in Paris.
Top seed Maria Sharapova finally found some form at the French Open to clinch a place in the fourth round at Roland Garros, while Russian compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova was also in ruthless form to secure her spot.
World No. 1 Maria Sharapova struggled into the second round of the French Open after surviving a massive scare against unheralded fellow-Russian Evgeniya Rodina in Paris on Wednesday.
World No. 3 Maria Sharapova has blasted the ruling body of women's tennis over its demands for top players ahead of this month's Italian Open in Rome.
Maria Sharapova's preparations for the second grand slam of the season have been further derailed as the Russian star was forced to withdraw from next week's German Open through injury.
Maria Sharapova will switch her focus to the clay season as she makes her return to the court this week after a fortnight's break enforced by injury and fatigue.
Maria Sharapova will not risk her shoulder injury to play for Russia in the Fed Cup semifinals against the United States later this month.
Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova continued her outstanding start to 2008 with a straight sets victory over 25th seed Eleni Daniilidou of Greece in the WTA tournament at Indian Wells.
Maria Sharapova remains unbeaten in 2008 after winning the Qatar Open with a 6-1 2-6 6-0 victory over fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva in Sunday's final in Doha.
Maria Sharapova will face her Russian compatriot Vera Zvonareva in the final of the Qatar Open on Sunday.
Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova maintained her unbeaten record in 2008 as she powered her way into the semifinals of the Qatar Open with a victory in less than an hour.
Fifth seed Maria Sharapova won the Australian Open for the first time on Saturday, beating Ana Ivanovic in straights sets to claim her third Grand Slam title.
Five quick observations after watching Maria Sharapova win her third Grand Slam title, taking out Ana Ivanovic in the final of the Australian Open.
MELBOURNE, Australia -- Maria Sharapova has some unfinished business at the Australian Open. In last year's final, she was flat-out embarrassed by Serena Williams. No surprise, then, that Sharapova has targeted this event since.
MELBOURNE, Australia -- Is it me, or is that the best anybody has seen Maria Sharapova play since she won Wimbledon? It is not easy beating Justine Henin 6-0 in a set. Sharapova was hitting powerful backhands with great angle. Also, it seems her serve is a lot better. Maybe, the shoulder injury really did affect her in 2007. I would say she is the favorite to win going on her current form. What do you think? -- Bob Diepold, Charlotte, N.C.
Maria Sharapova was close to her best as she swept aside Ana Ivanovic 6-1 6-2 for her third and by far most impressive victory in the group stages of the WTA championships in Madrid.
Maria Sharapova produced another display of fearsome big hitting to roll into the US Open third round on Thursday.
Maria Sharapova, who ruled the 2006 U.S. Open in an elegant, black tennis outfit, dressed in red for the opening match of her title defense on Tuesday and was on fire in a sizzling 6-0 6-1 romp over Italian Roberta Vinci.
Venus Williams stayed on course for a fourth Wimbledon crown when she breathtakingly demolished second seed Maria Sharapova 6-1 6-3 in a brutal fourth round victory.
Maria Sharapova won two matches in a day to progress to the semifinals of the weather-hit DFS Classic in Birmingham on Saturday.
What's wrong with this picture? On the men's side, you have Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal -- great ambassadors for the sport, always gentlemanly and giving credit where it's due. You have Andy Roddick, always good for a nice witty comment or two even in defeat, and as far as I know, none of the other top 10 players have been accused of gamesmanship.
On day 10 the quarterfinals began, the big names came out in force and the quality of tennis stepped up a notch.
World number two Maria Sharapova had to stave off two match points before beating Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 3-6 6-4 9-7 in an enthralling fourth round match at the French Open on Sunday.
Maria Sharapova was given a brief scare on her way to a 6-1 6-4 victory over Russian qualifier Alla Kudryavtseva in the French Open third round on Saturday.
Russian top seed Maria Sharapova reached the semifinals of the WTA Istanbul tournament with a hard-won victory over Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska on Thursday.
Move over Chrissie and Greg: tennis queen Maria Sharapova has confessed to having a crush on one of the world's top golfers. And the coveted title of being Sharapova's object of desire isn't going to Tiger Woods.
World number two Maria Sharapova has pulled out of next week's Family Circle Cup and Russia's Fed Cup tie against Spain as her 2007 season continues to be plagued by injury.
Russia's Vera Zvonareva staged a remarkable comeback to send defending champion Maria Sharapova crashing out of the Pacific Life Open on Tuesday, completing an afternoon of major upsets in the women's draw.
Michaella Kracijek of the Netherlands earned a second round clash with top seed Maria Sharapova at the Pacific Life Open that started at Indian Wells on Wednesday.
World No.1 Maria Sharapova retired in the second set of her Pan Pacific Open semifinal against Serbia's Ana Ivanovic because of a hamstring injury.
World number one Maria Sharapova battled her way into the semifinals of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo with a 4-6 6-0 6-1 victory over Japan's Ai Sugiyama on Friday.
She looked pretty, Maria Sharapova did -- pretty damn uncomfortable. With on-court conditions resembling the inside of a kiln, Sharapova was basted in sweat, alternately flushed and pale, during her first-round Australian Open match last week. While the top-seeded Russian overcame a feisty opponent, France's Camille Pin, and temperatures that reached 116° on the court, after the match she called on tournament organizers to rethink the event's Extreme Heat Policy, which outlines conditions for suspending a match before it begins but does not allow for a match in progress to be suspended. "It's inhumanly possible to play three hours in that kind of heat," she said.
Maria Sharapova returned to number one in the women's rankings on Monday despite her shattering 6-1 6-2 loss to Serena Williams in Saturday's final of the Australian Open.
Here are five things we learned watching Serena Williams put a comprehensive beating on Maria Sharapova this afternoon in the Australian Open final:
Justine Henin-Hardenne clinched the year-end number one spot when she ended Maria Sharapova's 19-match winning streak with a 6-2 7-6 win over the Russian in the semifinals of the WTA Championships on Saturday.
World number two Maria Sharapova racked up her 18th win in a row with a clinical 6-4 6-4 victory over Kim Clijsters in the round robin stage of the season-ending WTA Championships on Wednesday.
Maria Sharapova reached her 12th semifinal of the season by beating fifth-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia 7-6 7-5 at the Generali Ladies championship in Linz on Friday.
Maria Sharapova withstood a strong first set from Greek qualifier Eleni Daniilidou before moving into the quarterfinals of the Linz Open with a 7-5 6-1 victory.
U.S. Open champion Maria Sharapova had to fight off a determined challenge from Katarina Srebotnik of the Slovenia to reach the final of the WTA Tier One event in Zurich on Saturday.
U.S. Open champion Maria Sharapova pulled out of the Kremlin Cup on Friday because of a right foot strain.
Maria Sharapova showed grit, firepower and the ability to come up big when it counted most to whip Justine Henin-Hardenne and capture the U.S. Open in straight sets in New York on Saturday.
Maria Sharapova reached the Wimbldedon semifinals for the third successive year with a 6-1 6-4 dismissal of fellow Russian Elena Dementieva on Tuesday.
Unseeded American Jamea Jackson caused a massive upset as she beat defending champion Maria Sharapova 6-4 6-4 on Saturday to reach the final of the WTA event in Birmingham.
Champion and top seed Maria Sharapova charged into the semifinals of the Birmingham Classic with a 6-2 6-2 win over Italian Mara Santangelo on Friday.
Maria Sharapova swept China's Li Na aside in straight sets to keep her bid for a third straight victory at the DFS Classic in Birmingham firmly on track.
Former Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova reached the third round of the French Open after winning a rain-disrupted match against Czech Iveta Benesova 6-4 6-1 on Wednesday.
Fourth seed Maria Sharapova saved three match points as she fought back from 5-2 down in the final set to beat American Mashona Washington 6-2 5-7 7-5 in the first round of the French Open.
Former world No.1 Maria Sharapova will arrive for the French Open, starting in just over a week, without having played a match on clay this year.
Svetlana Kuznetsova returned to the form that had won her the 2004 U.S. Open title with a straight sets win over Russian compatriot Maria Sharapova in the final of the WTA event in Miami.
Martina Hingis crushed Russia's Maria Kirilenko 6-2 6-1 at the Pan Pacific Open to set up a semifinal clash with top seed Maria Sharapova.
Top seed Maria Sharapova powered past American Lisa Raymond 6-4 6-4 to join Martina Hingis in the Pan Pacific Open quarterfinals.
Martina Hingis will soon be back among the world's elite players after making a strong return to the game in Australia, Maria Sharapova said on Monday.
Former world number one Maria Sharapova's preparations for the Australian Open have suffered a major setback.
Maria Sharapova was ousted from the Kremlin Cup quarterfinals by Dinara Safina 1-6 6-4 7-5 in a battle of Russian teenagers.
Top seed Maria Sharapova was lucky to reach the Kremlin Cup quarterfinals after her second round opponent Anna-Lena Groenefeld retired with an ankle injury while leading 6-1 4-2.
Maria Sharapova was a promising 16-year-old phenom in 2003 when TIME magazine picked her as "Who's Next" in tennis. After making it that year to the fourth round in her first appearance at Wimbledon, the 6-foot-tall, attractive, blond Russian was instantly compared to Anna Kournikova.
Venus Williams raced to a 6-3 6-1 win over Spain's Nuria Llagostera Vives at the China Open on Thursday, joining World No. 1 Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals.
Teen queen Maria Sharapova became the first Russian to reach the summit of women's tennis on Monday when named world No. 1 in the WTA rankings.
Russian top seed Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from this week's $1.3 million WTA tournament in Toronto because of a pectoral muscle problem.
Defending champion Maria Sharapova reached the semifinals at Wimbledon by beating fellow Russian Nadia Petrova 7-6 6-3 on Wednesday for her 22nd consecutive victory on grass.
Saturday's play at Wimbledon saw all the major contenders for the women's title cruise through their third round matches.
Defending champion Maria Sharapova continued her bid for her second successive title by defeating Bulgarian teenager Sesil Karatantcheva in resounding fashion.
Defending champion Maria Sharapova reached the second round at Wimbledon on Tuesday after storming past Nuria Llagostera Vives of Spain 6-2 6-2.
Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova struggled into the semi-finals at Edgbaston, having to overcome an injury scare as well as unseeded Eleni Daniilidou 7-5 2-6 6-1.
Maria Sharapova's build-up to the defense of her Wimbledon crown remained on track after a hard-fought win over Australia's Samantha Stosur on Thursday.
Australian second seed Alicia Molik stumbled to a straight sets defeat to American Laura Granville in the second round of the Edgbaston tournament.
Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova was swept aside by Belgium's Justine Henin-Hardenne in a one-sided quarterfinal at the French Open on Tuesday.
Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova and home hope Amelie Mauresmo put their rivals in the shade on a day of blistering temperatures at the French Open.
Maria Sharapova employed some Russian grit to survive a nerve-jangling first-round clash with compatriot Evgenia Linetskaya at the French Open.
Top seed Maria Sharapova has reached the last 16 of the Rome Masters but Russian compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova failed to join her.
Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova was buried 6-0 6-0 by top seed Lindsay Davenport in the semi-finals of the Pacific Life Open.
Wimbledon champions Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova charged into the semifinals of the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells on Thursday.
Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova showed no ill effects from her recent illness as he began her Qatar Open campaign with an easy 6-1 6-1 victory over Gisela Dulko of Argentina on Wednesday.
Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova has recovered from the illness that forced her to pull out in Paris and is fit for the WTA event in Qatar on Monday.
Russia's Maria Sharapova pulled out of the Paris Open on Wednesday citing breathing problems and a sore throat, organizers said.
Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova and world number one Lindsay Davenport both powered into the Pan Pacific Open semi-finals in resounding fashion.
Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova overcame furnace-like conditions at Melbourne Park to reach the Australian Open semifinals with contrasting victories.
Wimbledon champion and fourth seed Maria Sharapova crushed China's Li Na 6-0 6-2 to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open.
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