Sharapova Advances to the semi-finals of the French Open
June 5, 2007
Maria Sharapova beat 20-year-old Russian Anna Chakvetadze 6-3 6-4 to progress despite her shoulder injury.
Chakvetadze, who lost to Sharapova in the quarter-finals of this year’s Australian Open, bowed out by firing a backhand return wide on the first match point.
Former Wimbledon champion Sharapova, who is hampered by a sore shoulder and said here she felt like a “cow on ice” on clay, will face Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic for a place in the final.
In the meantime the crowds at the French Open have Booed and Jeered Sharapova.
The Russian trailed 40-15 in the 16th game of the third set when she decided it was time to switch racquets.
She earned a time violation from the chair umpire but carried on unfazed amid the whistles and jeers to win the next four points and seal a 3-6 6-4 9-7 victory.
The spectators had turned on Sharapova in the previous game when she won a disputed point while serving at 30-0.
Serena Williams Defeats Sharapova…AGAIN
March 29, 2007
Another bad tournament for Sharapova as she has been knocked out of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami by none other than Serena Williams.
Australian Open tennis champion Serena Williams of the United States easily defeated top-seeded Maria Sharapova of Russia. The 13th-seeded Williams overpowered Sharapova, 6-1, 6-1, in a rematch of their Australian Open final earlier this year. Williams next faces No. 8 Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic for a berth in the last eight.
Sharapova Losses and will be dethroned from number 1 spot
March 14, 2007
A sad day all around as Russian beauty Maria Sharapova will be set to lose her number 1 rank in women’s tennis after crashing out of the Pacific Life Open with a 4-6 7-5 6-1 defeat to VERA Zvonareva.
She led 5-3 in the second set before losing eight consecutive games.
“I’m not making any excuses,” said Sharapova. “There is no use in that. It is one of those days where it didn’t happen.”
The victory, in front of a crowd of 3000, moved Zvonareva into the quarter-finals and cost Sharapova her world No.1 ranking.
Sharapova had extra pressure on her here, as she needed to reach the semi-finals to hold on to top spot.
Maria Sharapova Defeats Nathalie Dechy in the Pacific Life Open
March 12, 2007
Maria Sharapova overcame a sore hamstring, brutal heat and a lack of match practice to reach round four of the Pacific Life Open on Sunday.
The world number one beat France’s Nathalie Dechy 7-5 6-2 and next faces number 15 seed Vera Zvonareva.
Sharapova said: “I only started serving five days before the event because I got injured when I landed on serve.”
The Russian has hardly played since losing to Serena Williams in the Australian Open final in January.
Maria Sharapova Retires form the Toray Pan Pacific Open
February 3, 2007
In a sad twist of events, World no. 1 Maria Sharapova had to retire in the semi-final game against Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic when Sharapova pulled out with a strained left hamstring.
Sharapova, the 2005 Toray champion who was stopped in the semifinals for the second year in a row, said she felt tightness in her thigh following a loss in the Australian Open final prior to coming to Japan.
“After a Grand Slam you’re tight in a lot of places, but it’s something that I’ve had for a week or so now,” the Russian said.
“In the second game today after I served, I pushed off and when I landed I felt a much sharper pain.”
After dropping the first set, Sharapova called her coach onto court, then asked for the Tour trainer. There was a moment of confusion over whether the new rules governing on-court coaching allow for a simultaneous visit by the trainer.
But Sharapova got her way and received a massage on the back of her thigh and acupressure on her lower back. She returned for the second set and, despite holding serve, decided to call it a day to the disappointment of the crowd of 8,860.
“It’s unfortunate, but it’s hard to continue when you feel like you can’t push off the serve or the return,” Sharapova said. “It’s obviously disappointing for me and my fans, but I look forward to getting better and coming back here next year.”
Maria Sharapova - Tokyo Greetings
January 31, 2007
If your a susbcriber at Sharapova’s official site you would have received this letter this morning:
Greetings from Tokyo!
I’m in Tokyo getting ready to play my next event. I love coming back here as I have so many happy memories including winning my 1st event here over 3 years ago and winning here 2 years ago. There was a press conference a few days ago, check out all the photos in the gallery! Keep coming back to the site for all the latest news and remember to go the forum to follow all the scores with other fans.
After playing here I will take a break for a couple of weeks and my next event will be Dubai. It was funny as there was rain last year and I had to play Hingis and Davenport in 1 day, you really don’t expect rain in the desert!
I got to the final of the Australian Open which was my first tournament this year and that was a lot to be proud of. In fact, in celebration of making it to the finals my official store is offering 15% off everything in the memorabilia and photos department! There are some pretty cool things in there like trading cards and photos and there’s even a framed piece with a snippet of the net from one of my matches! They’ve made it really easy so all you have to do is click here and you’ll go straight to my store. Enjoy!
Speak to you soon!!
Maria
