Sharapova goes to Stanford final

Tonight in Stanford, 5th seed Maria Sharapova defeated 3rd seed Agnieszka Radwanska 1-6, 6-2, 6-2. As always, Radwanska was like a gnat that Sharapova kept swatting, but that would not go away.

It always frustrates me to watch the Polish number 1 because she has a clever, top-level game--one of my very favorites to watch--that is neutralized by her almost total lack of a second serve. In tonight's match, Radwanska stayed steady and let Sharapova make a number of errors. But the 5th seed slowly found her groove, and--though it took her five match points--won the match after a two-hour fight. Sharapova hit 40 winners and made 40 unforced errors, which pretty much says it all.

In tomorrow's final, Sharapova will play Victoria Azarenka (whom she has suddenly begun emulating by screaming when she misses a shot), the tournament's 8th seed, who is playing with a wild card.

Azarenka makes it look easy in Dubai

Vera Zvonareva, who played quite well in Dubai today in her first set against 8th seed Victoria Azarenka, received almost nothing in return for her effort. No matter what she did, Azarenka went her one better. Even when Zvonareva tried to crack her racquet on the court, she was unsuccessful, and had to crack it a second time to get it to break. She told her coach, "I see empty spaces all over the court, and I hit the ball to them, and she gets all the balls. I feel like my feet are stuck."

Azarenka, who was playing almost error-free tennis, did have a bit of a let-down in the second set, which, for a while, didn't seem to matter, because it looked as though Zvonareva were going to self-destruct. But Zvonareva pulled herself together and made the set more competitive. The 4th seed just wasn't good enough, however, to get past Azarenka, who won the quarterfinal match 6-1, 6-3.

I was able to see the last half of the third set between Agnieszka Radwanska and Regina Kulikova, and I wish I had seen the whole thing. Radwanska, seeded 7th, apparently had all she could handle in Kulikova, the Russian player who defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova in the third round. I was impressed with what little I saw of Kulikova, and I was really impressed with Radwanska, who--at least in the part of the match I saw--was serving better than usual. Kulikova grew tired in the third set, and--after being broken--had a couple of chances to break back, but could not do so. When she threw a backhand volley into the net at 3-5, it seemed obvious that her chances were gone. Radwanska won, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Li Na had to retire in the second set in her quarterfinal match against Shahar Peer. Li sustained a back injury, and all we can do is hold our collective breath and hope this isn't another of those injuries that keeps Li off the tour for months. She really is cursed with some of the worst luck of any player.

Finally, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova just wasn't ready to play her best game today. She made too many errors and was a bit sluggish, allowing Venus Williams to take control of rallies and to take control of the match, 6-3, 6-4. It took Williams seven match points to get the job done, though, partly because Pavlyuchenkova fought back so hard, but also because the 3rd seed was having so much trouble with her ball toss. Throughout the match, Williams had to re-toss the ball before serving. Pavlyuchenkova and Williams, by the way, are now 2-2 in head-to-head competition.

In the semifinals, Peer will play Williams, and Azarenka will play Radwanska.

Miscellany

Lindsay Davenport, along with her oh, so misunderstood friend, Justin Gimelstob, will be two of the commentators for Fox Sports Network's coverage of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells next month. The Fox Network channel in my area rarely shows tennis, and I can't say that fact is making me especially unhappy in this case.

According to the ARGWUS blog, Robert Radwanski--father and manager of the Radwanska sisters--has declared that his daughters will not play in Dubai next year. A protest against the treatment of Shahar Peer? No--a protest against the treatment of Aga and Urszula: "It's not politics. We just won't play where we are not welcomed. For the organizers of this tournament, if you're not Williams or Sharapova, you're no one. They have let us all emphatically feel it." That's not politics?

Kristie Ahn, a junior who impressed me at the U.S. Open, lost the final today at the SMASH Junior Cup in South Carolina. She was defeated in straight sets by Alison Riske, whose reward is a wild card into qualifying at the Family Circle Cup.

Anne Keothavong has finally made it to the world's top 50, coming in at number 48. So far, two-thirds of those voting in the Eurosport poll have said that Keothavong will not win a tournament this year. Keothavong complains that a lack of professionalism in the LTA has held her back, or--as the always-candid Brit told the BBC: "If I knew what I know now I could've been in the top 50 years ago." I don't have any trouble believing Keothavong. The last time I checked, the LTA was very busy trying to convince girls they could be athletes and still be "feminine."

Speaking of rankings, Kaia Kanepi is now in the top 20 (number 20).

Patty Schnyder's official website has disappeared, though the English version (never as good as the European version) is still online. I hope this is a temporary status. The website for The White Mile is still online, too. The last time Schndyer was interviewed about the book, which was to have been released in Europe July of last year, she said that she and husband/coach Reiner Hoffman became very busy and had not yet figured out how to tie all of the parts of the book together. There are still no excerpts on the website.