TennisToday

Maria Sharapova Upset in 2nd Round at Wimbledon

Wimbledon - Women's Second Round

Larcher De Brito d 3 Maria Sharapova - 63 64

It was a very whacky Wednesday at Wimbledon. VERY.

And Maria fell victim to to the day joining a list of upsets & retirements.

And when the hell has one seen her slip on court that many times?

Post match: I don't think I've ever fallen three times in a match before

in my career so that was a little strange, but that's certainly not an excuse.

I think today I've seen a lot of players fall and take a few hits and

a few injuries. I think that's just part of the game, part of what we

have to deal with as tennis players.

Serena Williams Wins 2013 French Open Title

French Open - Women's Final

1 Serena Williams d 2 maria Sharapova - 64 64

It took her 11 years to win a 2nd French Open title - but she's done it.

That is the longest gap between Slam (any Slam) titles in the Open Era.

She now has 16 Slams and at least 2 of each: AO 5, FO 2, W 5, USO 4.

She has a ways to go to catch Steffi Graf who has at least 4 of each.

Post match about her Slams:

I'm just trying to go up and up. Today when I won I was trying to win

the French Open; I wasn't trying to get to No.16. I think it was

Fabrice Santoro who told me that on court, 16, and I thought,

"Wow, I forgot about that.' I think it's really special. I feel like I definitely

want to continue my journey. If It means I stop at 16 or if it means I have

more, I definitely want to continue my journey to get a few more.

***

I doubt she will ever catch Margaret Court with 24 Slams but...

Serena is 2 away from Chris Evert & Martina Navratilova.

Their count is definitely in jeopardy.

Maria Sharapova Thru to French Open Final

French Open - Women's Semifinal

2 Maria Sharapova d 3 Victoria Azarenka - 61 26 64

The defending champion is into her 2nd (straight) French Open final.

This is also her 8th Slam final: 4-3.

And she'll be facing Serena who really does nothing but kick her butt.

Post match: I had a tremendous year last year. Obviously to come back

as defending champion, it's extremely special to get back on that stage

where it comes down to the last two players of the tournament. It's

certainly a nice feeling. I hope I can bring my best tennis for the last one.

Maria Sharapova Thru to 3rd Round at French Open

French Open - Women's Second Round

2 Maria Sharapova d Eugenia Bouchard - 62 64

It took two days but the defending champ is thru to the 3rd round.

They stopped the match owing to rain at 4-2 in the 2nd set yesterday.

Post match: It was a pretty long day on Thursday. But we all knew the

weather wasn't going to be good. On Thursday at 8.45pm when it was

raining, it was pretty tough to continue. I was happy to play part of

the match and get myself into a good position to finish it.

She'll have a quick turn-around and play Zheng tomorrow.

Hmmmm. Maria fans shouldn't be too worried about that one.

The 2013 French Open Draws are Set

Defending champions Rafa & Maria helped make the draw.

Maria kind of spoiled the party as she put Rafa in Nole's half.

So what should be a final can only happen in a semifinal.

Boo.

You can check the men's draw HERE.

The men's quarterfinals are seeded to look like this:

Nole/Tipsy; Rafa/Gasquet; Ferrer/Berdy; Roger/Jo-W.

The top 3 really got decent draws. I'm thinking they'll all be Sf-ists.

Hell, I'll go as far as to say all 4 top seeds will all make it.

You can check the women's draw HERE.

Really? Ain't nobody beating Serena this year. Nobody.

But for shits and giggles this is the quarterfinal projections:

Serena/Kerber; Aga/Sara; Vika/Na; Maria/Petra.

***

I don't like predictions much but here goes.

Serena will storm to the title.

And to wuss out I'll just say the winner of Rafa/Nole takes it.

But I think I'll hedge toward Rafa.

 

 

Serena Williams Wins at Madrid and Joins 50 Title Club

Madrid WTA - Women's Final

1 Serena Williams d 2 Maria Sharapova - 61 64

And Serena hands Maria her ass. Again.

That makes 7 of their last 11 matches Maria was kept to 5 games or less.

That's just crazy stuff.

With the title defence Serena will stay at #1.

She also joined 9 other women with 50 or more titles.

Post match: It feels good. I don't know how many more I can win.

Like I say every day, 'Who knows if I'll ever win another title?'

I just want to live in the moment and the dream every chance I get.

I feel like every moment I play - I don't know if it's because of what

I went through - I feel like I'm so fortunate to be out there and healthy

and to have an opportunity to play a sport and be really good at it.

Hopefully I can just keep it going.

Yea, I'm feeling a 2nd French Open title is in the offing.

Serena Williams & Maria Sharapova: Bikini Babes Set to Battle for #1 in the Final at Madrid

Madrid WTA - Women's Final Preview

1 Serena Williams vs 2 Maria Sharapova - H2H: 12-2/Serena

Sf milestones: Serena becomes 1st player to win 30 matches this year.

And Maria joined an elite club by winning her 500th WTA match.

Maria has not beaten Serena since 2004.

In their last 11 matches Maria has managed only 3 sets.

Also in those last 11 - in 6 of them Serena only gave up 5 games.

Their last showdown was in the Miami final in March.

Maria managed to make it a 3 setter but got blown out in the 3rd 6-0.

Can she make it interesting tomorrow? Certainly. Hopefully.

And let's not forget that they are playing for the #1 ranking.

In the battel of banging bikini bods I'm playing it safe - both win.

Serena Williams Opens Madrid Title Defence with Win

Madrid WTA - Women's 2nd Round

1 Serena Williams d Lourdes Dominguez-Lino - 62 75

You know you can't handle Serena's recent Vibe bikini photo shot. Truth.

And I am not touching this whole Sloane Stephens thing.

Except to say there will be no rematch at Madrid.

Sloane couldn't get out of the 1st round.

But Serena did and is seeking a second straight title at Madrid.

And she needs to win or lose in the same round as Maria to remain #1.

It makes for a tantalizing final. And I hope it happens.

 

Maria Sharapova Esquire Swimsuit Spread

Maria is in Madrid this week as the 2nd seed behind Serena.

Maria is in a position to yank the #1 spot away from Serena.

All Maria needs to do is finish the tourny one round better than Serena.

That makes for a very tasty final. Make it happen ladies.

Maria Sharapova Wins WTA Title at Stuttgart

WTA Stuttgart - Women's Final

1 Maria Sharapova d 2 Li Na - 64 63

Title #29 represents a defense of her win at Stuttgart last year.

This is her 7th clay title and 4th of the last 2 clay seasons.

Suddenly she is the default 'queen of clay' - can she keeps this up?

She had a tough week being pushed to 3 3-setters but came thru.

Post match: No matter how difficult those other matches were or

how tired I was, I stepped it up today.

This is shaping up to be a fun road to Roland Garros.

 

Maria Sharapova Grits Her Way into Semifinals at Stuttgart

WTA Stuttgart - Women's Quarterfinal

1 Maria Sharapova d Ana Ivanovic - 75 46 64

The queen of clay (well she was las year) is still on course to defend.

Remember: last year she won clay titles at Stuttgart, Rome & the French.

That's a lot of points to protect in the coming 6 weeks.

But Masha is playing some awesome ball in the last year so...

Will she finally win a 2nd title at a single Slam?

It would be freaky for that to happen on clay at Roland Garros.

But hey, freaky happens.

Serena Williams Wins 6th WTA Title at Miami

WTA Miami - Women's Final

1 Serena Williams d 2 Maria Sharapova - 46 63 60

Just when you think Maria's got her Serena wins the final 10 games.

I mean. Down a set and a break and never loses another game.

Who does that? Serena does.

Serena wins her 48th WTA title and 6th at Miami.

This is the tournament where she has won the most titles.

She can win 6 at 2 other tournies when next they are up: Wimby & Aussie.

Post match on how she picked up her lackluster energy mid-match:

I don't know. I just started drinking Gatorade, & it gives you a little energy.

No joke, seriously - it's not product placement.

I'm being really honest! But it really does help me out.

Now you know.

Serena Williams & Maria Sharapova to Play for WTA Miami 2013 Title

WTA Miami - Women's Semifinals

1 Serena Williams d 4 Agnieszka Radwanska - 60 63

3 Maria Sharapova d 22 Jelena Jankovic - 62 61

Jeez. Two beat-downs to set up a blockbuster final. #1 vs #2. Apt.

But hold up. This may just be a one-sided affair as well.

Serena has completely owned Maria for years. And years. And years.

Their H2H is 11-2 in Serena's favor.

The last time Maria won a match was in '04. Her last set won was in '08.

In their last 5 matches Maria's managed to win 4 games in ONE set. ONE.

Which must suck for Maria cuz this is her 5th final - she lost her last 4.

This is Serena's 8th Miami final - she's won 5: '02-'04, '07 and '08.

She also set a record for most matches won in Miami: 60.

Mmmm. I'm guessing this match will be more than the same.

So make that 61.

Maria Sharapova Moves into 4th Round at Miami

WTA Miami - Women's 3rd Round

3 Maria Sharapova d Elena Vesnina - 64 62

Maria has played this event 7 times and advanced to the final 4 times.

And has each time finish as runner-up: '05, '06, '11 & '12.

In fact she has never won a set in any of those finals.

She has watched (in order) Kim, Sveta, Vika & Aga raise the trophy.

I'm pretty sure she'd love to get this monkey off her back.

Maria Sharapova Wins Title at Indian Wells

WTA Indian Wells - Women's Final

2 Maria Sharapova d 8 Caroline Wozniacki - 62 62

It only took Maria 7 years to win a second title in the Cali desert.

And the win moves her back up to #2 in the rankings.

Post match: The scoreline makes the match look a lot easier than it was -

it was a tough match, a tough battle, and there were a lot of games that

went to deuce and long games.

Those games could have easily swung the other way,

especially some opportunities she had in the second set.

Hmmmm, it seemed kinda easy to me.

Maria Sharapova Moves into 3rd Final at Indian Wells

WTA Indian Wells - Women's Semifinal

2 Maria Sharapova d 13 Maria Kirilenko - 64 63

The '06 champ will try to make it 2 titles at Indian Wells.

She failed to do so in last years final against Vika.

She will need to get thru '11 champ Caroline Wozniacki. H2H: 4-2/Maria.

I'd bet the house on Maria winning this one.

With the Sf win she'll pass Vika and move up to the #2 ranking on Monday.

Post match: Am I? That's great - yeah, it's nice. It's better than #3, right?

I love when players pretend they don't know stuff.

 

Li Na Reaches Her 2nd Final at Australian Open

Australian Open - Women's Semifinal

6 Li Na d 2 Maria Sharapova - 62 62

Amazing. I so wouldn't mind if she won her 2nd Slam this weekend.

I mean, it's really hard NOT to just love this woman.

And I think mama will be ready:

What should I worry about? I worked so hard in winter training,

and now everything is coming back to me. I'll come to the court,

take the racquet and enjoy the tennis.

She takes a 4-5 H2H deficit into the final with Vika.

And she already raised a trophy this season at Shenzhen.

Vika must be favored - but I'm having a feeling otherwise...

Maria Sharapova Storms into Semi's at Australian Open

Australian Open - Women's Quarterfinal

2 Maria Sharapova d 19 Ekaterina Makarova - 62 62

Ok seriously, girlfriend is mighty stingy losing games this fortnight.

I mean - she has lost a total of 9 games into the Sf's. That's crazy.

This is the '08 champs 6th trip to the Aussie Sf's: 3-2.

Post match: If I start the match well, I want to follow through with that

along the whole way and keep that motivation and the way I'm playing,

doing the right things and keeping that focus. That's the important thing.

It's not to give away a few games.

That's not really the mentality of a winner, I think.

Maria Sharapova is Pretty Stingy in Losing Games en Route to Quarterfinals at Australian Open

Australian Open - Women's Fourth Round

2 Maria Sharapova d Kristen Flipkens - 61 60

This is the fewest games lost since '88 when the draw went to 7 matches.

Post match: It's really about keeping your focus,

no matter what the score is, no matter if you're up or down.

If we're being honest Maria hasn't face a tough opponent yet.

And yes, I'm including Venus in that. V is a shadow of her once great self.

I doubt Makarova will be too tough either.

Maybe she'll get some decent opposition in the final. Where she is heading.

Maria Sharapova Serves-Up 2nd Double Bagel at Australian Open

Australian Open - Women's Second Round

2 Maria Sharapova d Misaki Doi - 60 60

Oh crap - it's on!

To be fair tho... I ain't never heard of either of the double bageled girls.

But I've heard of her next opponent. Her name is Venus Williams.

Their H2H is 4-3 with the advantage going tp Maria.

If I'm betting I'd place my bet on Maria in straight sets. Sadly.

***

History was made with this back-to-back double bagel.

The last time this happened was before Maria was even born.

Wendy Turnbull produced this feat at the Aussie Open in 1985.

Maria isn't impressed: It's not really the statistic I want to be known for.

I want to be known for winning Grand Slam titles,

not that I won two matches 60 60. I'm just happy that I won the match.