Friday, February 22, 2008

Look out Agni--here comes Maria!

Maria Sharapova will get her chance to at least partially avenge her 2007 U.S. Open loss to Agneiszka Radwanska when the two meet in the Qatar Total Open semifinals tomorrow in Doha. Sharapova ran over the talented Caroline Wozniacki like a fast truck, and I expect her to put her foot a little harder on the gas pedal when she encounters Radwanska.

The other semifinal features Li Na, who defeated Jelena Jankovic (don't even get me started on that subject), and Vera Zvonareva, who beat Sybille Bammer. The Li-Zvonareva match should be interesting: Former top-ten player Zvonareva has an under-rated and stinging double-handed backhand that can do a lot of damage. Li can be a bit wobbly in the head part, but she has been holding up pretty well lately, and is capable of getting back a lot of balls. Zvonareva and Li, both of whom were out for a long time last season with injuries, have played each other twice before--including once in Doha--and Li won both times.

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