Sharapova thwarts upset-minded Garcia

During the first set and half of the second, 17-year-old Caroline Garcia gave the crowd what they wanted today in Paris in the second round of the French Open. The little-known French player stepped onto the court a picture of confidence, and took it to Maria Sharapova. Garcia hit laser-like forehands and backhands, and ran the 7th seed all over the court; she was in charge of the proceedings--until she held a set point in the first set. That was when we saw the first drop in confidence, though the French player pulled herself together rather easily and won the first set 6-4.

Garcia started the second set the same way she started the first, and I couldn't help but wonder: When is the choke coming? Sharapova was surely wondering this, too, and at 4-1--that perennially deceitful scoreline--it happened. On some level, Garcia realized she was about to defeat Maria Sharapova at the French Open, and that was pretty much the end of her. As soon as the crack opened, Sharapova was ready. She cleaned up her game and reeled off eleven straight games, leaving Garcia in the red dust. The Russian, like Vera Zvonareva before her, survived to play another round.

Garcia, at age 17, wasn't able to do what Sharapova did when she was 17, but she was nevertheless very impressive, and her set and a half will be remembered as an interesting highlight of this tournament.

Aside from Kim Clijsters, the only seed who lost today was Alexandra Dulgheru, who was defeated by countrywoman Sorana Cirstea. Jarmila Gajdosova won a close (7-6, 6-4) match against Anabel Medina Garrigues, and Victoria Azarenka, Li Na and Petra Kvitova advanced in straight sets.

Dulgheru, though she lost in singles, was part of an upset in doubles. She and partner Magdalena Rybarikova defeated 10th seeds Peng Shuai and Zheng Jie.

Sharapova (yes, you're reading it right) wins Rome

Back in what people consider her "great" days--when she was blowing opponents off of hard courts without dropping a set--Maria Sharapova was not expected to win red clay titles. During the past couple of seasons, after she went through botched diagnosis, rotator cuff surgery, and two rehabs--Sharapova was described as "finished," "under-confident" and "will never be the same again." She did struggle mightily, especially with her service game, but today, we got "old" Sharapova with a twist: She won a premier red clay tournament in Rome. The 7th seed and three-time major champion defeated 6th seed Stosur 6-2, 6-4 after the players waited three hours to play because of a rain delay.

To get to the final, Sharapova had to beat world number 1 Caroline Wozniacki, and to get the title, she had to beat 2010 French Open runner-up Sam Stosur. She beat them both in straight sets, and will be number 7 in the world when the rankings are published tomorrow. Sharapova is now 8-0 against Stosur.

Peng Shuai and Zheng Jie won the doubles title, upsettingh 3rd seeds Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova 6-2, 6-3.

Stosur and Sharapova to meet in Rome final

Never known for her acumen on clay courts, and considered by many to be "finished" because of injury and confidence issues--Maria Sharapova, the self-proclaimed clay court Cow on Ice--has made it to the final of the Italian Open. Sharapova defeated top seed Caroline Wozniacki 7-5, 6-3 in the semifinals, hitting 36 winners along the way. Of course, this isn't the first time that Sharapova has "failed to meet expectations" on clay. Last year, she played a gritty third round French Open match against Justine Henin, and took Henin to three sets.

The world number 1 has never won a red clay tournament. During this year's red clay season, she has fallen to Julia Goerges twice, and now to Sharapova. Wozniacki did win this year's Family Circle Cup, which is played on green clay.

Sharapova's opponent in the final will be 2010 French Open runner-up Sam Stosur, who defeated Li Na 7-6, 6-0 in the semifinals. Stosur has looked kind of flat lately, but her game has come to life in Rome, and the final will probably be a good one.

In the doubles semifinals, 3rd seeds Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova defeated 2nd seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik 7-6, 62, and Peng Shuai and Zheng Jie defeated Alexandra Dulgheru and Jarmila Gadjosova 3-6, 6-4, 10-5.

Passing shots

Svetlana Kuznetsova has split with her coach, Carlos Cuadrado. When it comes to Kuznetsova and Ivanovic, I need to have a "________ has split with _________" template on the ready.

Petra Kvitova and Vera Zvonareva are skipping the tournament in Rome. Kvitova will play in a $100k challenger in Prague.

Lisa Raymond recently had brunch with Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss in New York City. Raymond calls King a "ball of positive energy."

Piotr Wozniacki has taken a page from the Walter Bartoli playbook, and--during the clay season--is requiring Caroline to do three-hour workouts every day, including the days she plays matches.

Here is a video peek of Maria Sharapova's Eiffel Tower-inspired French Open dress.

Birthday in the Bahamas

Maria Sharapova turned 24 a few days ago. She celebrated her birthday in the Bahamas with a triple-tiered pink cake, and, on April 16, she also played an exhibition match with Gisela Dulko. The All-Star Tennis Weekend, hosted by Atlantis, took place on Paradise Island, and included a clinic for kids.

You can see a lot of Paul Hage-Chahine's photos of Maria at the kids' clinic at tenniswiz-art.com, and you can also see his photos of Maria on the court during the exhibition match, which she won, 6-3, 6-1. While you're there, check out the other galleries and enjoy!

Fed Cup miscellany

In order to determine the order of play against Ukraine in the Fed Cup World Cup play-offs, the Australian and Ukrainian teams enlisted the help of the Banks Rowing Club. Boats bearing the names of Ukrainian team members on their bows raced on the Yarra River in Melbourne. Olga Savchuk's boat won the race; hence, she played Jarmila Groth in the first rubber.

Erasmus Pelli, the vice-mayor of Lugano, hit some balls with Patty Schnyder during a "kidstennis" event held last week in observance of the Fed Cup play-offs.

Maria Sharapova has expressed interest in joining the Basketballers' Wives Club. The club was founded by Australian Fed Cup coach Nicole Bradtke, who actually said: "We're reasonably tall girls, so we need men with extra height. We can wear our high heels." Sorry, all you men who are under six feet tall--you're out of luck.

And, while we're on the subject of sexism, the Slovak Republic's Fed Cup team members were told by the master of ceremonies at the official dinner that they appeared to be part of a beauty contest as much as a tennis contest. The team members were then invited to parade in cat-walk fashion in front of all the guests. They declined.

As promised, Andrea Petkovic did not dance after she won her rubber against Christina McHale. The Petko Dance is really done.

Team USA has won the most Fed Cup titles--17--in history. However, if Melanie Oudin loses the first rubber on Sunday, the USA will be relegated to World Group II.

Passing shots

Kim Clijsters is out for four weeks because of continuing problems with her shoulder and wrist. She will return to the tour in Rome.

Aravane Rezai went out to wild card Estrella Cabeza Candela in the first round in Marbella today. The score was 6-3, 6-0.

Vera Zvonareva, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and Ekaterina Makarova have been named to the Russian Fed Cup for the semifinal event to be held later this month in Moscow. The Italian team has not been announced. It is expected that Francesca Schiavone will not play because she is preparing her title defense at the French Open. Rumor has it that Flavia Pennetta may not play, which is a bigger issue for Italy.

Women's Tennis Blog gives us a peek at Maria Sharapova's French Open dress. Women's Tennis Blog, by the way, just celebrated its fourth birthday--cheers to Marija!

A marching band will perform in the Family Circle Cup stadium today as part of Charleston's "Best Tennis Town in America" designation. Each of the first 1,000 individuals through the gate will receive a "Best Tennis Town" memento.

Azarenka wins Miami

Afraid I might miss a thriller, I left Charleston qualifying (and sacrificed watching the draw) to go back to the hotel in Mount Pleasant and watch the Miami final. I kind of wish I had stayed on Daniel Island. It wasn't a beat-down (well, the first set was), but Azarenka's 6-1, 6-4 victory was a solid one. Sharapova, awash in errors and service problems, and down 0-4 in the second set, eventually came to life. Azarenka got a bit shaky toward the end, too.. But just a bit.

Sharapova was broken eight times, and held serve only once. Azarenka, who won the championship in 2009, has had multiple problems with illness and injury for the past year, so this was a very big win for her.

Azarenka and Sharapova to play final in Miami

Victoria Azarenka, the 8th seed in the Sony Ericsson Open and the champion in 2009, made her way to the final tonight by soundly defeating an error-prone Vera Zvonareva 6-0, 6-3 in the semifinals. Zvonareva was the tournament's 3rd seed; Azarenka took out the 2nd seed, Kim Clijsters, in the quarterfinals. Even though she is a former champion, Azarenka has moved rather quietly through this event, and her level of play has risen with ever new match.

Earlier today, Andrea Petkovic saw her excellent run end when she played Maria Sharapova. Sharapova won, 3-6, 6-0, 6-2, and that scoreline tells you what you need to know. "More than anything," Sharapova said after the match, "I sensed that she was tired--probably a lot of the dancing that she's been doing--and I took advantage of it." That is, of course, a reference to the dance the 21st seed does after a victory. By the way, Petkovic says she is doing away with this routine, so we have seen her last dance, but I may keep calling her Dance Party--it's a habit.

Sharapova, the 16th seed, has a 2-2 record against Azarenka. The final takes place on Saturday, and it's going to be a loud one.

Clijsters squeaks into Miami quarterfinals

Kim Clijsters won the first set 7-6. Ana Ivanovic won the second, 6-3, then went up 5-1 in the third. She held five match points, too, but it was the 2nd seed who walked away with the win when she prevailed 7-5 in a third set tiebreak. Clijsters double-faulted eleven times in the match, but has to be given credit for making an amazing comeback against the 19th seed.

There were some upsets today. Top seeds Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta were defeated by 8th seeds Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez and Anabel Medina Garrigues. The Spanish team defeated Dulko and Pennetta 7-5, 6-4 in a match that featured twelve breaks of serve. In singles, 6th seed Jelena Jankovic lost her quarterfinal match to 21st seed Andrea Petkovic. Petkovic, who has always had talent but who used to fall short in the nerve department, seetms to have turned that situation around. She defeated Jankovic 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, giving her an excellent follow-up to her defeat of world number 1 Caroline Wozniacki.

And then there was the quarterfinal match between Alexandra Dulgheru and Maria Sharapova, which seemed like the Match That Wouldn't End. At 5-all in the third, serving at 30-15, Sharapova left the court to have the trainer look at her foot after she turned her ankle (she had called for the trainer earlier, but had changed her mind); she then received medical treatment. Dulgheru can be somewhat of a wall (talk about fitness), and she was happy to hang in and continually retrieve balls and wait for the 16th seed to make errors. They played almost three hours and 29 minutes, and broke each other 18 times. It went on for so long that Dulgheru did a costume change. Once she hurt her foot, Sharapova really started taking it to the 26th seed, with Dulgheru giving it right back, as she moved Sharapova around the court as much as possible.

Sharapova, who made 76 unforced errors (including 17 double faults), won the match 3-6, 7-6, 7-6. Dulgheru's relentless defense game almost paid off, but not quite. How Sharapova will fare in terms of foot strength and energy is unknown, but she put herself back into the top 10, no matter what. She also did a very good job of working around her injury and the feelings that obviously accompanied it.

Several years ago, I watched Nadia Petrova beat down Sharapova, and throughout the match, Petrova's name was mentioned only once. Commentators Mary Joe Fernandez and Cliff Drysdale could not stop talking about Sharapova, even as she was being hammered by her countrywoman. I thought of that tonight when I had Tennis Channel on (the picture is more stable than on Tennis TV, so sometimes I have them both running). To hear Lindsay Davenport go on, Dulgheru wasn't even there. Funny--I saw Dulgheru play her heart out, change the pace when she needed to, switch from defense to offense, and skillfully run down balls that would have created winners against other players. But Davenport would not give her any credit. Even when co-commentator Ted Robinson said "Dulgheru deserves a lot of respect," Davenport changed the subject.

I enjoy watching Sharapova as much as the next person, and--as anyone who reads this blog knows--I have not been part of the "Sharapova's career is over" trend. This isn't about Sharapova: It's about a commentator's ridiculous fawning over a player--which is problematic in itself--and her subsequent dismissal of the opponent. It took Sharapova three and a half error-strewn hours to overcome Dulgheru; maybe the 26th seed could be acknowledged as at least being part of the match?

(And while I'm on the subject of Tennis Channel: The Family Circle Cup in Charleston, a premier event, takes place next week, but according to Tennis Channel, it doesn't exist. The commentators have the women heading straight from Miami to Europe.)

The heat was hot, and the ground was dry

But the air was full of sound.

The screams of Maria Sharapova seemed to take on a new meaning last night in the California desert, as she won only three games and made 41 unforced errors in her semifinal match against world number 1 Caroline Wozniacki. Sharapova. seeded 16th in Indian Wells,  looked lost--almost from the first moment--and failed to hold serve in the first set. She waited longer than is her custom to strike, she flubbed what few volleys she set up, she had repeated service problems, and she missed the lines on many occasions. Wozniacki did not find it necessary to do much more than serve as a backboard for the Russian's errant shots. After an hour and 20 minutes, she advanced to the BNP Paribas Open final.

Yesteday's other semifinal match featured Marion Bartoli at her absolute best, serving and returning at a very high level against 23rd seed Yanina Wickmayer. Bartoli had a moment, at the beginning of the second set, in which she double-faulted three times consecutively, but other than that, her serve was on fire, and she ended the match with ten aces and an 83% first serve win percentage. The 15th seed defeated Wickmayer 6-1, 6-3.

Should Bartoli (who dealt with a stomach virus earlier in the tournament) play in the final the way she did in the semifinals, there will be an exciting contest tomorrow. But between Bartoli's physical fragility and the ever-changing success of her service game, all we can do is be optimistic that she repeats her performance. Wozniacki, on the other hand, has taken consistency to its highest level.

In doubles, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaughnessy will compete today in the final against Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina.  Mattek-Sands and Shaugnessy received a walkover in the semifinals from 6th seeds Victoria Azarenka and Maria Kirilenko. Mirza and Vesnina defeated Daniela Hantuchova and Agnieszka Radwanska 6-0, 6-4.

Two things you can count on

Caroline Wozniacki will get at least one walkover or retirement during a tournament.

Victoria Azarenka will wind up lying on the court, limping off of it, or both.

In today's BNP Paribas Open quarterfinal, we got it all. Top seed Wozniacki played her friend Azarenka, and after only three games, Azarenka sustained a left hip flexor strain, and--after being advised by her coach--retired from the match.

Azarenka has struggled repeatedly with hip and thigh injuries. She went through a famous food poisoning (still wrongly labeled "heat illness" by the press) incident, and an even more famous incident in which she passed out on the court after getting a concussion before the match. As for Wozniacki, she is so often the recipient of retirements and walkovers, I've come to expect one every tournament.

In the last of the quarterfinal matches, Maria Sharapova and Peng Shuai went three sets, and Sharapova prevailed, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3. And though it still sounds odd to say it, Sharapova is seeded 16th.

Passing shots

Conchita Martinez has been hired by Tennis Australia to give some guidance to some of the players.

Christina McHale, who received a wild card into the BNP Paribas Open main draw, is currently working with USTA coach Jay Gooding.

Surely by now, readers have heard about the Northwestern University computer study that generated the result that Jimmy Connors is the greatest tennis player of all time. Aside from the fact that discussions of who is "the greatest of all time" are ridiculous to begin with, this particular study has another flaw not being talked about: Connors, according to the study, is actually the greatest male player of all time, but the assumption by those who designed the study was that only men could even be considered. Such an assumption once again promotes the false (but very popular, with such players as Tim Henman, John McEnroe, Andy Murray, and John Isner "ranking" WTA players within the ATP) notion that the men's game and the women's game are the same. So please add sexism to the flaws in the study that are being discussed throughout the tennis media. The scientists at Northwestern are, of course, not alone. Members of the sports media constantly talk about the "greatest player of all time" when they are actually referring to the "greatest male player of all time."

bleacher report picks Jennifer Capriati's defeat of Martina Hingis in the 2002 Australian Open final as number 34 in the "The 50 Greatest Comebacks in Sports History." There are three tennis moments in the top 50.

Here are some photos from Maria Sharapova's Tatler photo shoot.

Retired doubles great Virginia Ruano Pascual has been named the new director of the Open Castilla Y Leon Villa de El Espinar. Ruano Pascual won 43 titles, including ten majors.

From Jon Wertheim: "...a recently retired player was telling me that she's observed a rash of eating disorders among her colleagues. 'If I see a player's results suddenly fall, the first thing I assume is that she either has an eating disorder or a complicated relationship with her coach.' She says that if it weren't for eating disorders, the top 20 would look very different."

Passing shots

Maria Sharapova has been suffering with an upper respiratory infection and had to withdraw from this week's tournament in Paris. She was scheduled to play in Dubai next week, but her name does not appear in the draw.

The decision was announced today: The French Open will remain at Roland Garros. 

Fashion note: During her week in Paris, Yanina Wickmayer was sporting some Bethanie Mattek-Sands-style black knee socks. Wickmayer plays wild card Bojana Jovanovski in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Speaking of apparel, he WTA Tour is still not offering any fan merchandise featuring the tour's new name and lame new logo.

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova is the top seed in Memphis next week. The next two seeds are Sofia Arvidsson and Melanie Oudin.

Aravane Rezai is expected to return to the tour for the tournament in Doha.

Passing shots

For the first time, the tour's top ten players are from ten different countries. Kim Clijsters has moved to number 2 in the world, Francesca Schiavone to number 4, and Li Na to number 7.

Tom Perrotta says the women were the stars of the 2011 Australian Open.

Dinara Safina has parted ways with her coach, and hints that she'll soon hire a former ATP player to be her new coach.

Women's Tennis Blog offers a summary of Australian Open fashion.

Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova will participate in the Nike "Clash of Champions," to be held March 8 in Eugene, Oregon. Williams recently announced that she expects to return to the tour in April.

Sam Stosur arrived in Tasmania today, and helped open the new regional tennis center in Launceton. She will play on Australia's Fed Cup team this weekend, when Australia takes on defending champion Italy in Hobart.

Casey Dellacqua is returning to the court after a long layoff from foot surgery and rehab.

Observations about the Australian Open

Martina Navratilova is a great commentator. Her ability to see detail and the big picture at the same time is  impressive.

Note to Chris McKendry: There were lots of countrywomen in the stands, too. What century are you living in? (Also, as much as I like him as a commentator, why is it so hard for Darren Cahill to say the "w" word?)

Francesca Schiavone is a tennis god.

Fireworks, cannons and buzzing planes are distractions, not entertainment.

The chair umpires appear to be taking a closer look at coaching from the stands.

Australian fans really know how to do it with the costumes, makeup and body painting!

Can we please keep the "all Chinese men are short and all Chinese people are quiet" interviewer out of press conferences?

The performances of both Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki do not bode well. Time will tell.

Sharapova wins thriller against Goerges

Maria Sharapova and Julia Goerges were not able to play as scheduled because of a dead spot on the court in Hisense Arena. Staff members had to drill a hole in the court to let the air out of the surface where the dead spot was. About twenty minutes later, the players were able to go on. The delay certainly didn't bother Goerges, who took control of the first set. She wobbled toward the end of it, squandering two set points with forehand errors, but a double fault from the 14th seed set Goerges up for a third set point, which she converted.

Sharapova served for, and barely survived, the first game of the second set. She broke Goerges at 2-all, then Goerges had treatment for a blister on her foot. While the trainer was treating her opponent, Sharapova, who had double-faulted eight times, practiced her serve. It must have helped, because she looked much better in her next service game, and even better in her next one. It was a well-played set, and the 14th seed got into a groove of the sort we used to always expect from her. She topped it off, in fact, with an ace for set point.

Goerges was broken right away in the third set, as Sharapova remained dominant. By this time, the 2008 champion was hitting winners right and left. Goerges went down 0-4, but then put herself on the scoreboard after hitting a couple of her own impressive winners. She went on to break Sharapova, and followed the break with a hold. Goerges' momentum, as admirable as it was, was stopped when Sharapova held at love. Well, it was kind of stopped, because Goerges then played a brilliant game under pressure and held at 15.

I'm generally not the biggest fan of huge, hard hitting, over and over, but I couldn't take my eyes off of this match for a moment. Sharapova won it, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 with an ace on her first match point, but it could have gone either way. Both players performed with such intensity, the match was a total pleasure to watch. And Sharapova--despite her eleven double faults--looked, for all the world, like....Sharapova. Both she and Goerges should get confidence boosts from what they did in the third round.

Passing shots

Sony Ericsson has launched Xperia Hot Shots, an entertainment show that will be streamed online and to mobile devices. Xperia Hot Shots, which begins in March, follows the lives of six aspiring WTA Tour players as they strive toward sports stardom. The featured stars will have access to the worlds of music, film, gaming, and fashion. Maria Sharapova helped Sony Ericsson make the announcement yesterday. Sharapova worked with Melbourne street artist Dvate to create the show's logo and to tag a specially-made mural. Xperia Hot Shots will be shown on YouTube.

The Australian Open Bracket Challenge has begun. You can go to On the Baseline and fill out the bracket form with your predictions. A dozen prizes will be awarded to those who come closest to predicting the outcomes, and the major prize is a pair of tickets to the 2011 major tournament of your choice. The contest will close on Sunday, January 16 at 6 p.m. EST.

So far, every tennis expert and major writer I've come across has picked Kim Clijsters to win the Australian Open.

Get ready to pay James LaRosa's Australian Open drinking game.

Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, the 2011 Sydney doubles champions, played match tiebreaks in each of their four matches.

Yaroslava Shvedova reports that she has begun post-surgical rehab for her knee, and she is already walking up stairs.

Sharapova enters Family Circle Cup

Former world number 1 Maria Sharapova has entered the 2011 Family Circle Cup. Sharapova was scheduled to play in Charleston last year, but she had to withdraw because of injury. In 2008, Sharapova lost to eventual champion Serena Williams in the quarterfinals.

"I was very disappointed that I could not compete in the Family Circle Cup because of an injury last year, so I’m excited to enter the 2011 event," Sharapova said in making the announcement. "I love the history and charm of Charleston, and I really look forward to returning to Daniel Island." 

The Family Circle Cup will be played April 2-10. The defending champion is Sam Stosur, who has already entered the event.

Passing shots

The Virginia Slims series began 40 years ago today. The first women to break away and sign up for the series were ostracized by many male players they thought were their friends. Women getting paid real money to play tennis?! One of my favorite stories about this difficult period is told by Billie Jean King: Tennis umpires would not have anything to do with the series at first, so the women hired baseball umpires, who--when they called faults--would yell "foul ball!"

Maria Sharapova has turned down a wild card to play in Sydney. The wild cards have been given to Anastasia Rodionova and Jelena Dokic.

The Hong Kong Classic is in progress. So far, Aravane Rezai defeated Zhang Shuai, Maria Kirilenko defeated Melanie Oudin, Vera Zvonareva defeated Venus Williams, and Caroline Wozniacki defeated Li Na.

Caroline Wozniacki is not the only Sunshine on a cloudy day.

Simon Reed says that Elena Baltacha can break into the top 50 this year, and--if she stays injury-free--may break into the top 40.

Serbia is into the Hopman Cup final, but lost 1-2 to Belgium in the last rubber.

Kim Clijsters, who has repeatedly said that 2011 will probably be her last full season, now says she may play another four years. How long she stays, in my opinion, will probably have to do more with her injury status than anything else.