Archive for the 'Maria Sharapova' Category

Maria Sharapova, seeded first in the women’s draw for the 2007 Australian Open, moved into the semifinals for the third straight year with a decisive triumph over comrade and twelfth seed Anna Chakvetadze (7-6 (5), 7-5). Sharapova will play the winner of the Clijsters vs. Hingis match to see who will play the final in this year’s first Grand Slam.

Seven-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams willed herself to win her quarterfinal match against equally strong willed Israeli Shahar Peer. Williams managed to pull out a 3-6, 6-2, 8-6 victory. “I am the ultimate competitor,” said Williams. “Definitely ready to create some more carnage.” Amazingly, her world ranking will move from 81 to somewhere in the 30s following the tournament. Williams takes on Nicole Vaidisova in the other semifinal match tomorrow. Vaidisova is 17 years old and playing only her second Grand Slam semifinal. Vaidisova beat Czech compatriot Lucie Safarova to advance to the semifinal round (6-1, 6-4).

Will the fourth contestant in the Australian Open semifinals be Clijsters or Hingis…

Newsflash: It’s Kim Clijsters against Maria Sharapova, she defeated Martina Hingis 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Though Kim Clijsters and Martina Hingis race to see who can finish the match first, neither is as fast as Maria Sharapova. Her first round match dragged on for three grueling hours in extreme heat, but yesterday Sharapova spent only 58 minutes to wallop fellow Russian Anastassia Rodionova 6-0, 6-3. “My brain cells were restored today so I could pick it up a bit,” Maria assured reporters. “I wanted to make sure I finished it in two this time.”

Women’s third round highlights: Maria Sharapova vs. Tathiana Garbin, Amelie Maursemo vs. Eva Birnerova, Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Maria Kirilenko, Kim Clijsters vs. Alona Bondarenko, Nadia Petrova vs. Serena Williams, and Martina Hingis vs. Aiko Nakamura.

Top seed Maria Sharapova fought hard to reach round two of the Australian Open. Camille Pin of France proved herself a worthy opponent in the blistering heat. The score was 6-3, 4-6, 9-7. The match ran for 171 minutes, 83 of which were the third set! Sharapova commented, “It’s inhumanely possible to play three hours in that kind of heat. I don’t think our bodies were made to do that. I was so delusional I couldn’t think.”

Kim Clijsters and Martina Hingis also made it to the second round of play, each winning in straight sets. Clijsters completed her match against Russia’s Vasilisa Bardina in just 44 minutes and won 6-0, 6-0; it looks like her last year in professional tennis is going to be brilliant. Hingis defeated Nathalie Dechy 6-0, 6-2, also making quick work of her opponent.

The women’s second round tomorrow includes matches between: Amelie Mauresmo vs. Olga Poutchkova, Serena Williams vs. Anne Kremer, Jelena Jankovic vs. Virginia Ruano Pascual.

The American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD) recently voted tennis star Maria Sharapova tops in their Best Celebrity Smile Survey. 42 percent of those that responded chose Sharapova for best female athlete smile. American golfer Tiger Woods was voted best male athlete smile. The AACD is the world’s largest not-for-profit cosmetic dental professional association.

Sharapova and her smile were also featured in the January issue of Vogue dedicated to best dressed celebrities. In general, 2006 was one of the best years for Maria’s career to date. She won five major tournaments, including the US Open, and ended the year ranked number two in the world.

Check out this video I found on YouTube via a tennis forum. The poster was asking about getting sponsorship for her youngster. Four years-old in this video. What do you think, worthy of early sponsorship?

The Prince O3 White racquet is the gift that I gave myself this year and what an improvement in my game! If someone you love loves to play tennis, this gift could cause shrieking to ensue. Maybe not exactly Sharapova-style sounds, but shrieks nonetheless (yes, this is the same racquet that Maria Sharapova used to win the 2006 US Open!). Try it, you’ll like it.