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.

Stretching time

Miscellany

Maria Sharapova is considering accepting a wild card to play in the Medibank International in Sydney. She is already scheduled to play in the Auckland Classic, which begins on January 3. Sharapova has never played in Sydney, and the tournament's organizers say that they are willing to give her a wild card at the last minute. The Medibank International begins on January 9.

Alex Williams says that Serena Williams is the Player of the Year for 2010, and that Francesca Schiavone gave us the Performance of the Year.

Mary Carillo, who does sports reporting for NBC, Tennis Channel, CBS, and HBO, has--at her request--ended her ESPN contract a year early.

Yaroslava Shvedova has hired Dimitri Zavialoff as her coach. Zavialoff coached ATP star Stanislas Wawrinka for fifteen years.

Zheng Jie, who reached the semifinals of the 2010 Australian Open, has withdrawn from the 2011 tournament because of her wrist injury.

Finally--though this has nothing at all to do with the WTA--for those needing a holiday pick-me-up, here is a compilation of all the Roger Federer on-camera break-up moments captured on video.

Miscellany

Sofia Arvidsson and Johanna Larsson won the doubles title in Quebec City today. They defeated top seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-1, 2-6, 10-6.

Lu Jing-Jing upset qualifying top seed Ayumi Morita in the first round of qualifying in Seoul. (Lu was subsequently defeated by Hsieh Su-Wei.)

Zheng Jie could be out as long as six months because of her wrist surgery.

The Family Circle Cup has announced its partnership with the City of Charleston Department of Recreation's Courting Kids inner-city youth program. The tournament has committed over $50,000 in financial, material and promotional support to the program, in the form of equipment, clothing, parties, and Family Circle Cup seats. There will be two fund-raising events for Courting Kids at the 2011 Family Circle Cup tournament.

Vera Zvonareva did a photo shoot for Glamour.

Justine Henin has begun practicing again.

The ITF and BNP Paribas have agreed to sponsor Fed Cup for a new five-year period, beginning in 2012. 

Miscellany

Jill Craybas upset 2nd seed Aravane Rezai today at the Bell Challenge in Quebec City. Craybas, who is ranked number 123 in the world, defeated Rezai 6-3, 3-6, 7-6. Sabine Lisicki went out in straight sets to Alexa Glatch.

Zheng Jie has had disappointing results lately. She has stopped playing for the season and will soon have surgery performed on her wrist. Zheng underwent ankle surgery in 2007. Zheng was a semifinalist at the 2010 U.S. Open, and won both the Australian Open and Wimbledon doubles championships in 2006.

World number 1 Serena Williams is practicing again, but says she hasn't yet determined when she will return to the tour.

Elena Baltacha has reached the top 50 for the first time in her career. Baltacha is currently ranked number 49 in the world.

Steve Tignor gives Maria Shavapova a C+ for her U.S. Open performance.

Zoo Tennis reminds us that the team of Timea Babos and Sloane Stephens has won three of four majors in junior doubles this year. They did not play together in Melbourne, but won the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

Huber & Petrova advance to U.S. Open semifinals

2nd seeds Liezel Huber and Nadia Petrova advanced to the U.S. Open semifinals today, with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 win over 5th seeds Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs. Also advancing were 7th seeds Chan Yung-Jan and Zheng Jie. They defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaugnessy 6-4, 6-4.

These U.S. Open doubles matches are quite entertaining. It's a shame so little attention is paid to them.

Dementieva upset by Zheng in Montreal

Zheng Jie defeated 4th seed Elena Dementieva 7-6, 6-4 today in the third round of the Rogers Cup. Zheng made it all the way to the semifinals of this year's Australian Open. She is the only unseeded player remaining in Montreal.

Also going out in the third round was 7th seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who was defeated 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 by 11th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, who recently won the title in San Diego.

Iveta Benesova's run was ended abruptly by 17th seed Marion Bartoli; Benesova won one game. 10th seed Victoria Azarenka defeated 9th seed Li Na, and 2nd seed Caroline Wozniacki wore down 15th seed Flavia Pennetta by engaging her in a series of very long rallies. Pennetta seemed more mentally tired than anything; Wozniacki really likes these long rallies, and appears to have almost endless mental and physical energy.

Here is the quarterfinal draw:

Marion Bartoli (17) vs. Victoria Azarenka (10)
Kim Clijsters (5) vs. Vera Zvonareva (8)
Svetlana Kuznetsova (11) vs. Zheng Jie
Francesca Schiavone (6) vs. Caroline Wozniacki (2)

She's....back! Kuznetsova wins San Diego

There were times, during the Mercury Insurance Open final, when both opponents played very well. But other times, one would take a turn at being an anxiety-ridden mess. Agnieszka Radwanska, the 4th seed, took the first turn, stepping onto the court with most of the magic of her quarterfinal and semifinal successes eluding her. She was obviously anxious, evidenced mostly by her lack of instinct and her indecisiveness about shot-making. It didn't take Svetlana Kuznetsova long to go up 4-1.

Radwanska straightend herself out a bit, but Kuznetsova took the set 6-4.

When the second set began, the 4th seed was a different player--the player we've watched for the last couple of days. She defended better, though she did go down 3-5. When Kusnetsova served for the match, she was broken. Radwanska easily held. The set ended up in a tiebreak, with Kuznetsova once again in charge. She went up 4-0, then 6-3, and the whole affair appeared to be about over--until Kuznetsova became so anxious, she double-faulted twice, and ended up losing four match points. Radwanska--by this time quite steady--won the tiebreak 9-7.

The third set was a good one, featuring some of the best shot-making of the match. But as the set wore on, it was Radwanska who faded, and Kuznetsova who rose to the occasion, hitting winners left and right. With a 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 victory, the Russian was able to hold the trophy.

For Radwanska fans (count me as one), the loss was tough, but at least everyone got to see a lot of the 4th seed's best tennis throughout this tournament. For Kuznetsova, the win couldn't come at a better time. With the U.S. Open around the corner, the 2004 champion with the mighty forehand has declared herself a contender.

Kuznetsova was not the only one to make a comeback: Zheng Jie, whose doubles stardom has waned, won the San Diego tournament with partner Maria Kirilenko. The 4th seeds defeated 2nd seeds Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs 6-4, 6-4.

Chan and Zheng upset in Wimbledon doubles

Zheng Jie had a bad day at Wimbledon today. The 2008 semifinalist was defeated not only in singles, but also in doubles. She and partner Chan Jung-Jan, seeded 9th, were defeated 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 by the team of Akgul Amanmuradova and Kristina Barrois.

5th seeds Liezel Huber and Bethanie Mattek-Sands won a close contest against Sarah Borwell and Raquel Kops-Jones. Huber and Mattek-Sands defeated their opponents 6-7, 6-3, 7-5.

Mixed doubles competition began today, with Gisela Dulko and Juan Ignacio Chela defeating Julia Goerges and Michael Kohlmann 6-7, 6-1, 6-4.

Zvonareva and Zheng out in first round of Italian Open

Vera Zvonareva, seeded 15th in Rome, lost the first set of her first round match against Petra Kvitova, then went on to win only six more points in the match. Kvitova's 6-4, 6-0 win over Zvonaeva is the first major upset of the tournament ("major" because Zvonareva would normally be seeded higher but is still working her way back from a long injury layoff). Zvonareva, who says she is not near her optimum fitness level, did get to the final in Charleston, but was soundly defeated in that event by Sam Stosur.

Also going out today was Zheng Jie, who lost to wild card Maria Elena Camerin. Camerin defeated Zheng 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in a match that lasted 2 hours and 51 minutes.

Play today was repeatedly interrupted by rain.

Wozniacki scales the Wall and reaches the Indian Wells semifinals

Tonight, a commentator called Zheng Jie the Great Wall of China, and I hope the nickname sticks. The 18th seed and her opponent, 2nd seed Caroline Wozniacki, played a quarterfinal match in Indian Wells that was so physically and mentally demanding, there was almost no way the scoreline could accurately reflect what happened on the court. I was exhausted, just watching it.

The match lasted just over two hours and 18 minutes, but it felt as though it lasted longer. For two sets, both players were at their best, playing crowd-thrilling defensive tennis, and taking each other to the edge over and over. It was a pleasure to watch. In the third set, however, Zheng was obviously tired, and her errors increased until it was too late for her to redeem herself. But even then, she helped Wozniacki provide some very entertaining tennis.

Wozniacki defeated Zheng 6-4, 4-6, 6-1. There were 11 breaks of serve, and too many deuce games to count. Zheng hit twice as many winners as Wozniacki, but she also made twice as many unforced errors. In the end, Wozniacki hung in with more accuracy, and it paid off.

By the way, Zheng, whose serving was a big part of her undoing in the Australian Open semifinals, has been working with a service coach, and it shows.

In today's other quarterfinal match, 4th seed Elena Dementieva was defeated 6-4, 6-3 by 5th seed Agnieszka Radwanska. Radwanska threw everything she could think of at Dementieva, and the tactic worked. When it comes to changing the direction and pace of the ball, there are few better than Radwanska. And although serving is her weakness (Why, oh why, doesn't such an excellent player do something about that second serve?), Radwanska did manage to use the body serve effectively against Dementieva from time to time. Dementieva also became quite error-prone in this match, and lost her way.

Zheng takes Sharapova out of BNP Paribas Open

For almost 2 hours and 45 minutes this afternoon in Indian Wells, Maria Sharapova and Zheng Jie played a tough second round match of topsy-turvy tennis, filled with momentum changes and frustration. 10th seed Sharapova had repeated problems with her serve, double-faulting 14 times; segments of the match that were filled with errors were often followed by long and entertaining rallies.

In the first set, Zheng moved Sharapova around successfully, and finished a number of points with her impressive forehand. She won that set 6-3. In the second set, however, Zheng appeared to lose her sense of flow and began making more errors. At the same time, Sharapova--though continuing to struggle with her serve--began hitting groundstrokes with more precision and power. She won the set 6-2.

Up a quick break in the third set, Sharapova appeared to have found--if not her game--at least a comfort level. She hit some very good second serves, and she took advantage of Zheng's weak second serve. But then Zheng found her way again, started moving Sharapova all around the court like she did in the first set, and again used her forehand (and her backhand, too, at this point) to finish points. She emerged the winner, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.

It was a somewhat messy affair, and included games that went to deuce eight and nine times. Both players looked tired by the middle of the third set, and my guess is that it was mental fatigue they were feeling. Zheng's defensive skills are formidable, and her first serve has improved. She is one more player, however, who needs a better second serve; it would save her a lot of frustration and points.

Also in the second round, 19th seed Aravane Rezai defeated Francesca Schiavone 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 in a match that lasted 2 hours and 52 minutes.

In doubles, Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova upset 5th seeds Alisa Kleybanova and Francesca Schiavone. The team of Benesova and Zahlavova Strycova is one to keep an eye on this season.

Miscellany

Dinara Safina has withdrawn from Indian Wells.

Belated birthday (it was yesterday) wishes to Jelena Jankovic, who is playing in Monterrey this week.

Zheng Jie and Chan Yung-Jan had never played doubles together until they combined to win the Malaysian Open championship. After they won the title, they said that they intend to keep playing together. Zheng played successfully for a long time with Yan Zi, and Chan played for quite some time, also successfully, with Chuang Chi-Jung.

Alisa Kleybanova, who was world number 29 before she won the Malaysian Open title, is now ranked number 26.

Kim Clijsters continues to go on and on about the horrible Barbie created "in her likeness" and--as one blogger noted--the equally horrible "baby beauty pageant contestant" little girl supposedly created in her daughter's likeness. Clijsters has mentioned that she is flattered by Mattel's latest attempt to promote body dysmorphic disorder in girls and young women.

Kleybanova wins Malaysian Open

Alisa Kleybanova won the Malaysian Open today. The 4th seed, playing in her first tour final, had to withstand both a rain delay and the opposition of top seed Elena Dementieva, but she came through, 6-3, 6-2. Kleybanova had solid service stats, and also broke Dementieva four times.

Chan Yung-Jan and Zheng Jie, the 2nd seeds, won the doubles title. They defeated Anastasia and Arina Rodionova 6-7, 6-2, 10-7. The unseeded Rodionova sisters took out the top seeds, Kleybanova and Yan Zi, in the second round.

Miscellany

Retired French player Nathalie Dechy gave birth to a boy on January 25. Dechy and her husband have named the baby Lucas.

Jelena Dokic has withdrawn from the Pattaya Open.

Kim Clijsters says she's flattered that Mattel made a Barbie of her. Only they didn't, Kim....

Li Na and Zheng Jie were given the full treatment when they returned to China after reaching the Australian Open semifinals. Li said she expected to make a quiet entry, but was greeted by flowers, banners, and a bevy of reporters and camerapeople at the airport.

Justine Henin has been given a wild card into the main draw of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

Victoria Azarenka says she retired in her Fed Cup match because of illness. She said she thinks she may not ever have felt this bad, which is saying something, considering the 2009 food poisoning incident.

Henin easily overcomes Zheng to advance to Australian Open final

It took wild card Justine Henin just 51 minutes to win her Australian Open semifinal match against Zheng Jie, who--along with Li Na--made Chinese tennis history with her Melbourne run. Zheng, whose serve is a major flaw in her game, could do very little to hold back Henin, who served beautifully and allowed her opponent to win only one game. Henin's 6-1, 6-0 victory gives her a meeting with Serena Williams in the 2010 final. Williams is the defending champion, and has won the Open four times. Henin won the tournament in 2004.

Australian Open semifinals feature 2 Chinese players

Congratulations to Zheng Jie and Li Na, the first Chinese women to reach the semifinals of a major tournament!

Zheng will play 2004 champion Justine Henin in the next round, and Li will play defending champion Serena Williams.

Henin and Zheng go to Australian Open semifinals

Nadia Petrova's great run at the Australian Open ended today. Playing with a sore shoulder, Petrova, at times, saw her formidable serve get away from her. After the match, she said she thought she was tossing the ball differently to avoid shoulder pain that became worse in today's match.

But a bad shoulder wasn't Petrova's only problem. She made twice as many unforced errors as her opponent, Justine Henin, and allowed Henin to dominate in many of the big points. Henin's 7-6, 7-5 victory made her the first quarterfinalist to go to the semifinals. Henin struggled with her serve, too, but was able to slice off both sides to grab a number of rallies.

The day's second match, between Maria Kirilenko and Zheng Jie, had the makings of being a delightful contest, and--at times--it was. But Kirilenko--who has been playing singles, doubles and mixed doubles--just wasn't up to the task. She made some good shots, but was a step behind Zheng the entire match, her forehand was often vulnerable, and--to top it all off--she double-faulted at match point. Zheng, on the other hand, was focused and precise, she hit the ball cleanly, and her movement was excellent from start to finish.

Kirilenko's vulnerable thigh gave her trouble and she had to have treatment for it. After she lost the second set, though, Kirilenko picked up her game a bit, and--serving at 3-2--Zheng found herself at 0-40. She would go on to save four break points, and that was the last time she looked truly vulnerable in the set. She won the match 6-1, 6-3, and made only nine unforced errors.

Kirilenko, a player's whose game I have always enjoyed watching, had a good tournament, and is still in the doubles draw. This is Zheng's second semifinal at a major, but she has her work cut out for her: Her next opponent is Henin.

Henin goes to the quarterfinals

The much-anticipated match between the two Belgians, Justine Henin and Yanina Wickmayer, has resulted in a 7-6, 1-6, 6-3 victory for Henin, who now moves on to the Australian Open quarterfinals. The match, which contained seven breaks of serve, was widely regarded as a quality affair by those who saw it. (I was not one of those people. I couldn't stay up that late, though I tried. I think the high and bizarre drama of the Ladies National Figure Skating Championships did me in, too.)

Also advancing to the quarterfinals was Zheng Jie, who defeated Alona Bondarenko in a match that had its share of unforced errors (74 in all) and momentun swings. Zheng hit twice as many winners as her opponent, and--although Alona didn't exactly go Bondarenko on us in the second set--she did have an attitude slip that probably did her no favors. Bondarenko also performed poorly at the net. Zheng's 7-6, 6-4 victory gives her a quarterfinal meeting with Maria Kirilenko.