Sharapova Advances to the semi-finals of the French Open

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.

more

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.

more

Sharapova Pulls Through Despite Injury

Maria Sharapova pulled through her shoulder injury pains to reach the quater-finals of the French Open, beating Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 3-6, 6-4, 9-7..

Schnyder served for the match three times, at 5-4, 6-5 and 7-6 in the third set. She was one point away from ending the match in the 10th game and again in the 14th - and she also was two points away from victory on 11 occasions.

When Sharapova pulled it out on her first match point, as Schnyder sailed a forehand wide to get broken again, the Russian covered her face with both hands and looked on the verge of tears. As both players met at the net, there was a mix of boos and applause.

more..

Sharapova advances to the third round of French Open

Maria Sharapova, who missed nearly two months of the season because of an injured right shoulder, reached the third round in the women’s draw, easily beating Jill Craybas of the United States 6-2, 6-1.

“I feel it at times in the match,” Sharapova said. “I try not to think about it.”

Up 2-1 at the start, Craybas held three break points at love-40. But Sharapova won the next 11 points, holding serve with the help of three forehand winners in a row, then breaking Craybas at love when the American dumped a volley into the net with the entire court open.

Maria Sharapova Makes it to the Semi Final at AU Open

She has done it!..well you didn’t doubt it did you?

Sharapova has reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open for the third straight year after defeating Anna Chakvetadze, another 19-year-old Russian, 7-6 (5), 7-5.

“Sometimes I feel I don’t know if she knows what she’s doing,” Sharapova said. “She definitely has a lot of variety. If she wants to step in, she has a lot of power behind her strokes. But over all, at the end of the day, it’s just about who took the chances a little more.”

That has been Sharapova’s trademark throughout her career, and it does indeed take preternatural self-confidence to keep taking huge cuts at returns when the results have generally been unsatisfactory.

“She is stronger,” said Chakvetadze, a fast-rising blond Muscovite who, at 19, is the same age as Sharapova. “She’s a great fighter. I think she deserves this win.”

But even Sharapova conceded that she will probably have to raise her level if she is to break through to her first Australian Open final. She has come close the last two years, losing to Serena Williams in the 2005 semifinals despite holding three match points and then losing to Justine Henin-Hardenne last year in the same round in a three-set match.

Sharapova, assured of gaining the No. 1 ranking next month, had trouble on her serve, double-faulting on break point three times. But she had the only point on serve in the tiebreaker, where the last eight points finished on unforced errors.

The US Open champion was broken when serving for the match at 5-3 and wasted a match point with a backhand error in the next game. Sharapova got two more match points in the 12th game and finished it off in 2 hours, 14 minutes when Chakvetadze netted a forehand.

“It was very difficult, I didn’t feel like we had a lot of easy rallies,” Sharapova said. “I felt I had to work on every point.” Sharapova was very inconsistent, smacking clean winners to take one game, then committing glaring mistakes to lose the next. She finished with 32 winners but six double faults and 41 unforced errors and won only three more points than her opponent.

Sharapova, who looks toward her father, Yuri, after almost every point, got a warning for getting coaching from him as she served at 0-30 with the score tied at 2-2 in the second set. She then ran off four straight points to take the game.

source

Sharapova Through after Intense first-round match at the Australian Open

The heat that passed 100 degrees almost ensured Maria Sharapova would be a first round casualty but the 19-year-old produced a gutsy display to down frenchwoman Camille Pin 6-3, 4-6, 9-7.

“One of the toughest matches I’ve played,” she said in her understandably brief postmatch remarks to the crowd. Pin, ranked 62nd, served for the match at 7-6 in the third set and was two points from victory at 30-15. But Sharapova, who had taken an injury timeout earlier in the set, came up with forehand winners on the next two points, then got back to 7-7 when Pin double-faulted.

more

Maria Sharapova Wins Zurich Title

Sharapova has done it again!, The U.S Open champion continued her fine form to capture the Zurich Open final crown, her fourth title of the year on Sunday by beating unseeded Slovak Daniela Hantuchova 6-1 4-6 6-3 in the final of the Zurich Open.

It was Sharapova’s first title in Zurich, after she finished as runner-up to Alicia Molik in 2004.

The victory, achieved with the loss of just one set all week, added to the Indian Wells, San Diego and U.S. titles she earned earlier this year.

Although the second-seeded Russian will remain at number three in the rankings next week behind Amelie Mauresmo and Justine Henin-Hardenne, the win boosted her chances of ending the season as world number one.
Read more

Next Page »