Thursday, January 26, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Australian Open Maria Sharapova 2012
Sharapova rewriting the narrative, one dominant win at a time
We speak often of "statement wins," victories that enable players to advance in the draw and raise some eyebrows at the same time. These declarations come in a variety of ways.
It could be a young, hyped player outlasting an opponent in five sets, as Bernard Tomic, Grigor Dimitrov and Donald Young each did on Monday -- a suggestion that their fitness and maturity might be catching up with their gifts. It might be an oft-injured player winning a match and announcing that he's healthy again. The oldest player in the men's draw Tommy Haas -- once a top-five player before spending extended stints on tennis' disabled list -- won his first match and announced "I'm not done yet." Sorana Cirstea, a promising talent not long ago, dropped Sam Stosur -- the local favorite and the U.S. Open champ -- and sent the message: "Don't give up on my potential just quite yet."
But for pure statements, few spoke louder than Maria Sharapova did on Tuesday. Sharapova is a former champ in Melbourne ('08), a former No. 1 player, and the No. 4 seed. She earns more than any female athlete on the planet. Yet she's been written off by most of the tennis salon. When we talk of the Big Three in the women's game, we speak of Petra Kvitova, Serena Wiliams and Kim Clijsters. The next analyst to pick her to win this event will be the first.
The conventional wisdom is that Sharapova's is deep in the back nine of her career. That the field has caught up. That over the course of seven matches, eventually the yips will infect her serve. That her "make every shot a power shot" game, low as it is on tactics and versatility, will bite her.
Any and all of that may happen. But Sharapova sure looked like a world-beater on Tuesday. Sharapova drew Gisela Dulko, a notoriously dangerously and streaky player, who's beaten most of the top guns, including Sharapova at Wimbledon in 2009. And in roughly the time it will take for you to read this sentence, Sharapova administered a brutal thrashing, winning 6-0, 6-1. This was vintage Sharapova, dictating points, ruthlessly pushing her opponent around the court, pounding her returns, minimizing her serving issues. (She can live with five double faults and three aces spread over seven games if she's striking the ball this cleanly.) She's healthy. She's in a good head space. "I've been on the Tour for many years, played enough tournaments, I just want to be as ready as I can for the big ones," she said after the match.
Again and again, Sharapova has asserted that she doesn't mind flying under the proverbial radar, no longer top-of-mind in the tennis conversations. Be that as it may, Sharapova's results didn't speak for themselves on Tuesday. They screamed.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/jon_wertheim/01/17/australian-open-day-2/index.html#ixzz1jk12vtkX
maria sharapova
We speak often of "statement wins," victories that enable players to advance in the draw and raise some eyebrows at the same time. These declarations come in a variety of ways.
It could be a young, hyped player outlasting an opponent in five sets, as Bernard Tomic, Grigor Dimitrov and Donald Young each did on Monday -- a suggestion that their fitness and maturity might be catching up with their gifts. It might be an oft-injured player winning a match and announcing that he's healthy again. The oldest player in the men's draw Tommy Haas -- once a top-five player before spending extended stints on tennis' disabled list -- won his first match and announced "I'm not done yet." Sorana Cirstea, a promising talent not long ago, dropped Sam Stosur -- the local favorite and the U.S. Open champ -- and sent the message: "Don't give up on my potential just quite yet."
But for pure statements, few spoke louder than Maria Sharapova did on Tuesday. Sharapova is a former champ in Melbourne ('08), a former No. 1 player, and the No. 4 seed. She earns more than any female athlete on the planet. Yet she's been written off by most of the tennis salon. When we talk of the Big Three in the women's game, we speak of Petra Kvitova, Serena Wiliams and Kim Clijsters. The next analyst to pick her to win this event will be the first.
The conventional wisdom is that Sharapova's is deep in the back nine of her career. That the field has caught up. That over the course of seven matches, eventually the yips will infect her serve. That her "make every shot a power shot" game, low as it is on tactics and versatility, will bite her.
Any and all of that may happen. But Sharapova sure looked like a world-beater on Tuesday. Sharapova drew Gisela Dulko, a notoriously dangerously and streaky player, who's beaten most of the top guns, including Sharapova at Wimbledon in 2009. And in roughly the time it will take for you to read this sentence, Sharapova administered a brutal thrashing, winning 6-0, 6-1. This was vintage Sharapova, dictating points, ruthlessly pushing her opponent around the court, pounding her returns, minimizing her serving issues. (She can live with five double faults and three aces spread over seven games if she's striking the ball this cleanly.) She's healthy. She's in a good head space. "I've been on the Tour for many years, played enough tournaments, I just want to be as ready as I can for the big ones," she said after the match.
Again and again, Sharapova has asserted that she doesn't mind flying under the proverbial radar, no longer top-of-mind in the tennis conversations. Be that as it may, Sharapova's results didn't speak for themselves on Tuesday. They screamed.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/jon_wertheim/01/17/australian-open-day-2/index.html#ixzz1jk12vtkX
Monday, December 19, 2011
Maria Sharapova at 13 years age video
Sharapova first gained attention on the tennis scene in November 2000, when she won the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis Championships in the girls' 16 division at the age of just 13. She was then given a special award, the Rising Star Award, which is awarded only to players of exceptional promise. She made her professional debut in 2001, and played her first WTA tournament at the Pacific Life Open in 2002, winning a match before losing to Monica Seles. Due to restrictions on how many professional events she could play, Sharapova went to hone her game in junior tournaments, where she reached the finals of the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2002. She was the youngest girl ever to reach the final of the Australian Open junior championship at 14 years and 9 months.
From 2003, Sharapova played a full season, and made a rapid climb into the top 50 by the end of the year. She made her debuts at both the Australian Open and the French Open, but failed to win a match in either. It was not until the grass season that she began to fulfill her promise, beating a top-20 player for the first time and reaching her first semifinal at the WTA level. Then, as a wildcard at Wimbledon, she defeated 11th seed Jelena Dokić to reach the fourth round, where she lost in three sets to Svetlana Kuznetsova.
By the end of September, Sharapova had already captured her first WTA title at a smaller event, the Japan Open Tennis Championships, before winning her second in her final tournament of the season, the Bell Challenge. To cap off her first full season as a professional, she was awarded the WTA Newcomer of the Year honor.
Maria Sharapova WTA Championships in Istanbul
Maria Sharapova at the season-ending WTA Championships in Istanbul proved to be almost as important in a standout year.
The 6-1, 7-5 win in October was the first time Stosur had beaten the Russian in 10 meetings, dating back to 2004. With another showdown on the cards at the Brisbane International in January, the result could not have been more timely for the Gold Coaster.
"That's going to be a big confidence boost for me the next time I go out on court against her," Stosur said. "A 9-0 record isn't good but now I've won one, it proves I can beat her."
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
Race to rescue tennis centre
Stosur stands by her man
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
Sharapova's height means Stosur's trademark kick serve and heavy top-spin forehand generally land right in the Russian's hitting zone.
In Istanbul, Stosur shelved those weapons and frustrated Sharapova by moving her around the court.
She also mixed up her shots with plenty of slice, and was rewarded.
"If I don't hit it well enough, then it's right in her hitting zone where she can just go 'whack' and get on top of the point," Stosur said.
The importance of the Turkish victory against the odds cannot be underestimated, according to Stosur's coach David Taylor.
"That was one of the great victories of the year," Taylor said.
Sharapova is just one of the many tantalising match-ups looming for Stosur in Brisbane, depending on the draw for the tournament starting on New Year's Day.
She could also come up against US Open runner-up Serena Williams, ranked 12th, and Italy's Francesca Schiavone, who beat the Australian in the 2010 French Open final.
Taylor cannot wait.
"It's an incredible first week of the Australian summer," he said.
"That field - you couldn't have wanted any of the bigger names and Sam is up with those big names now.
"That is going to be a real test and a really great benchmark to see where everyone is at early in the season. It's different than going to a lower-tier tournament and winning it. You're better off playing Sharapova in the quarters and seeing where you're at."
Likewise, Stosur would welcome the chance to test herself two weeks before the Australian Open. The world No.6 insists she has no added desire to beat Williams after the American's blow-up during their US Open final, just the usual will to win.
"I don't think it was aimed at me, and after the match everything was fine," Stosur said.
"I never even think about the incident - only when someone else brings it up. I don't care about it.
"That's part of what happened but I walked away winning the match, so that's all that I'm worried about."
With Schiavone, however, the lure of revenge lingers. Stosur has a 6-3 win-loss record against the world No.11 but, since Schiavone's Roland Garros triumph, they are split 2-2.
Stosur won their most recent clash, in Rome in May, and would relish the chance for a repeat.
The three-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova has been working hard in practice at Nick Bolletiari’s academy in Florida for her 2012 preparations.
The World No. 4 Maria Sharapova, who has finished the season with ankle injury, where she hopes to return back strongly next year. Russian beauty has begun her 2012 preparations at Nick Bolletiaris academy in Florida along with American coach Yuri. Sharapova has lost two consecutive matches at the year ending’s WTA Championship in Istanbul, as she suffered ankle injury and withdrawn from the third round robin match.
The 24-year-old Sharapova has showed finest performance this season and clinched two WTA Tour titles at Rome Masters and Cincinnati. Russian star has climbed to No. 2 position in the WTA Rakings in October, but failed to secure her spot at the end of the year and fall down two positions to No. 4. Sharapova will begin her 2012 campaign at Brisbane International championship, schedule to begin on 2nd January and will take place at the Queensland Tennis Centre in Tennyson in Brisbane.
The former World No. 1 Sharapova will face tough challenge at Brisbane International tournament, where she will meet Serena William’s of United States, 2011 US Open winner Samantha Stosur, World No. 2 Andrea Petkovic, Kim Clijsters, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Italian star Francesca Schiavone and Jelena Jankovic.
Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova
The 6-1, 7-5 win in October was the first time Stosur had beaten the Russian in 10 meetings, dating back to 2004. With another showdown on the cards at the Brisbane International in January, the result could not have been more timely for the Gold Coaster.
"That's going to be a big confidence boost for me the next time I go out on court against her," Stosur said. "A 9-0 record isn't good but now I've won one, it proves I can beat her."
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
Race to rescue tennis centre
Stosur stands by her man
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
Sharapova's height means Stosur's trademark kick serve and heavy top-spin forehand generally land right in the Russian's hitting zone.
In Istanbul, Stosur shelved those weapons and frustrated Sharapova by moving her around the court.
She also mixed up her shots with plenty of slice, and was rewarded.
"If I don't hit it well enough, then it's right in her hitting zone where she can just go 'whack' and get on top of the point," Stosur said.
The importance of the Turkish victory against the odds cannot be underestimated, according to Stosur's coach David Taylor.
"That was one of the great victories of the year," Taylor said.
Sharapova is just one of the many tantalising match-ups looming for Stosur in Brisbane, depending on the draw for the tournament starting on New Year's Day.
She could also come up against US Open runner-up Serena Williams, ranked 12th, and Italy's Francesca Schiavone, who beat the Australian in the 2010 French Open final.
Taylor cannot wait.
"It's an incredible first week of the Australian summer," he said.
"That field - you couldn't have wanted any of the bigger names and Sam is up with those big names now.
"That is going to be a real test and a really great benchmark to see where everyone is at early in the season. It's different than going to a lower-tier tournament and winning it. You're better off playing Sharapova in the quarters and seeing where you're at."
Likewise, Stosur would welcome the chance to test herself two weeks before the Australian Open. The world No.6 insists she has no added desire to beat Williams after the American's blow-up during their US Open final, just the usual will to win.
"I don't think it was aimed at me, and after the match everything was fine," Stosur said.
"I never even think about the incident - only when someone else brings it up. I don't care about it.
"That's part of what happened but I walked away winning the match, so that's all that I'm worried about."
With Schiavone, however, the lure of revenge lingers. Stosur has a 6-3 win-loss record against the world No.11 but, since Schiavone's Roland Garros triumph, they are split 2-2.
Stosur won their most recent clash, in Rome in May, and would relish the chance for a repeat.
The three-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova has been working hard in practice at Nick Bolletiari’s academy in Florida for her 2012 preparations.
The World No. 4 Maria Sharapova, who has finished the season with ankle injury, where she hopes to return back strongly next year. Russian beauty has begun her 2012 preparations at Nick Bolletiaris academy in Florida along with American coach Yuri. Sharapova has lost two consecutive matches at the year ending’s WTA Championship in Istanbul, as she suffered ankle injury and withdrawn from the third round robin match.
The 24-year-old Sharapova has showed finest performance this season and clinched two WTA Tour titles at Rome Masters and Cincinnati. Russian star has climbed to No. 2 position in the WTA Rakings in October, but failed to secure her spot at the end of the year and fall down two positions to No. 4. Sharapova will begin her 2012 campaign at Brisbane International championship, schedule to begin on 2nd January and will take place at the Queensland Tennis Centre in Tennyson in Brisbane.
The former World No. 1 Sharapova will face tough challenge at Brisbane International tournament, where she will meet Serena William’s of United States, 2011 US Open winner Samantha Stosur, World No. 2 Andrea Petkovic, Kim Clijsters, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Italian star Francesca Schiavone and Jelena Jankovic.
Maria SharapovaMaria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova
Maria SharapovaMaria Sharapova
