The quarterfinals are set out in Cali and Sharapova is indeed a match away from being the number one player in the world. She may be feeling the pressure, because her scorelines this week haven't been all that overwhelming. Her road to the quarters:

1st round - Bye
2nd round - d. Kirilenko 4-6, 7-5, 6-2
3rd round - d. Chakvetadze 4-6, 6-4, 7-5

Maria now has to face Hantuchova, who she should beat 9 times out of 10, but if Maria's nervous about attaining number one and it's affecting her game, Daniela is talented enough for the upset.

The other quarters have Dementieva sqauring off against Garbin, Clijster versus Petrova, and in what has to be a torturous viewing matchup for any fan unlucky enough to have tickets ... Schiavone versus Conchie Martinez!!

I'm thinking Sharapova vs. Clijsters in the final, which could provide a very telling pre-U.S. Open
preview!

It's not certain Sharapova will even play today. She said after her match against Chakvetadze that if her pectoral muscle doesn't improve she will pull out.

Oh no! I guess that explains the tough scores.

Maria is still very young and her game will mature im sure. Right now, there are about 5-6 other girls that are far better on hard courts. Kim C, the Williams, Lindsay, JHH are superior hard cournt players. Then u also have Elena D. Mary Pierce and Kuzzy, very dangerous players that have proved they can play on the outdoor hard courts as well.

I think the US Open will be a tournment that Maria will really have to have a great tournment in order to win it all. But she does have the game to do it.
Personally, im hoping Lindsay wins, though at the moment she is injured. After that, I'll root for Kim C.

I was having a conversation with someone the other day who said that Maria Sharapova is going to end up like Andy Roddick. A one dimensional player whose game has been figured out by enough top players to keep her a one slam wonder. I told him that I didn't agree with that at this point. I think that at 18 its still too young to make such a declaration. She still has some developing to do and can still evolve her game.

Serena went more than a year after winning her first major so I'm not ready to say that yet. Serena and Venus however raised the bar in tennis. They elevated the power and sent girls running to the gym. Poor Justine's body couldn't take it. Maria is not the kind of player who has raised the bar. Most of the girls coming along nowadays have that hard hitting style. So I'm not going to say that she will end up like Roddick, however, she is a one dimensional player who will need to add some variety to her game because people have figured her game out. I don't see her serving any better than she does now. I don't see her hitting any harder than she does now. In my opinion she needs to add some slice or net play.

It's awfully premature to proclaim Sharapova OR Roddick a one-slam wonder, actually.

[ August 12, 2005, 10:52 AM: Message edited by: Gaga4Gaby ]

I agree Gaga...a bit premature for that but I do agree that Roddick is overhyped. He needs to step it up and stop relying on his serve so much. Federer runs circles around him and Hewitt is not intimidated by him. This year he's lost to players that I scratched my head about. I don't know why he dumped Brad Gilbert.


Meanwhile...its SharaPOVA and OUT at the JP Morgan Chase as she has withdrawn from her match with Hantuchova. The tennis gods don't want her ranked #1. She's had chance after chance after chance this year to take it from Davenport. Doesn't bode well for next week either as she is scheduled to play in that tournament.

[ August 12, 2005, 11:06 AM: Message edited by: ltskinmdterp ]

While she is rather one dimensional, I disagree with your assessment. At the moment, her power on is from height and technique. I think if she adds a little muscle, she'll have the biggest serve in women's tennis. I'll repeat what I said about Sharapova after she won Wimbledon. I compared her win there to Serena Williams win of the U.S. Open in '99. It was an out-of-nowhere win by a talented 17-year-old who was really not yet an elite player. Actually, Sharapova's results over the past year were better than Serena's--she only made one major semifinal over the next two years. I still expect Maria to emerge as a dominant player in the next couple of years.

I'm less sure of Roddick. He's still awfully young to write off, but he doesn't seem to be improving and seems completely incapable of beating Federer, or even Hewitt. My guess is he'll probably steal a slam or two somewhere along the line like Yevgeny Kafelnikov did, but I don't see him ever being a worthy rival to Federer.

JC I would almost agree with your views on Sharapova being a dominant player if she had come around the time Serena and Venus did and if there was no Venus and Serena. Serena was able to capitalize by taking the game to a new level of power and it took awhile for the other players to catch up. Sharapova doesn't have that luxury of raising the bar. All the new crop of players coming are hitting the ball as hard and serving as hard. The placement and consistency may not be there but they are hitting hard like she is. Serena was able to really take over and had to wait for the girls to hit the gym and improve their conditioning to catch up. While I agree that Sharapova can improve, I don't see her dominating and holding all 4 slams the way Serena did. There's simply too much depth in women's tennis nowadays.

I don't see Maria having all four Slams at once either; however, that doesn't mean she won't dominate. Mostly I think she'll have a really tough time winning the French. And she doesn't really have to raise the bar in order to be dominant - she just has to be better than her peers. She already has the best serve in the business if you ask me. She can serve with pace and accuracy to any corner of the service box. Serena and Venus can serve with the same type of power, but I don't think they're really on Maria's level as a sharpshooter with the serve.

The comparison of Roddick to a Kafelnikov in terms of career track seems about right to me. The rival that Federer has been lacking is looking like he's coming in the form of Rafael Nadal. Nadal is young enough that he didn't suffer loss after loss to Federer's dominance last year and, consequently, he doesn't fear Roger the way the other guys do. You can tell he's just as hungry and just as capable of playing at Federer's level.

[ August 12, 2005, 12:26 PM: Message edited by: Gaga4Gaby ]

Maria's serve isn't as powerful as Venus and Serena, but at this point it is much more accurate. I think the big difference is the quality of the second serve. You see a lot of great 1st serves in the women's game, but few truly have unattackable 2nd serves. When Serena was dominating, her second and first serves were the best in the game. In fact the biggest single difference between the Williams sisters is the second serve. Venus' has always had a weak one. As far as Maria being one dimensional, she may be, but what a one dimesion to have. When you can outhit your opponents, you're not going to lose a lot of matches. Most of the top women are hard hitting baseliners. The ones with a lot of variety like Mauresmo and Henin are just part of a very deep pack. So IMO, variety doesn't count as much as execution these days.

I don't think any one woman can dominate the WTA right now simply because of the incredible depth. If you have a veteran like Pierce becoming a factor at majors in addition to at least seven/eight other women who are capable of stepping up and reaching the final, well, that's depth. I'd say that LD's almost finished career wise not that she couldn't win the US Open, but the next two to three years should feature both Williams, both Belgiums, at least two Russians, and even a young Chinese player battling for the big titles. Maria's capable of being great but she will have to take that next step, and I think it's most likely that she will.

Roddick's in a bit of trouble, I'd say. Unless he really keeps stepping up his net game and erases his annoying habit of faltering in important tiebreaks, he's reached his peak, which doesn't mean he won't go far in big tournaments. Gaby's absolutely right when he says that Nadal is the biggest competition for a healthy Roger. But I also feel that Roger's got big things ahead; his career has just begun in my mind. The next three to four years will be all about his titles, and the young guns trying to take them away.

Not for nothing, the web site for this tourney sucks serious ass.

I'm surprised no one's said anything about Daniela Hantuchova's win over Dementieva. I wish I could have seen the match. I know she got to the semi's due to Sharapova's dropping out, but it's cool seeing her contending for a title again. She's definitely having a good year.

Me too, I've always liked Hantuchova. She's had a few big wins in her career, I remember her beating Hingis in 02 to win her first (and only, unfortunately) title at Indian Wells. She had a good win over Mauresmo last year as well. There were rumors of an eating disorder in 03, and by looking at her back then, they could have been true. Regardless, the young lady has talent. If she doesn't get discouraged and starts beating top players again, like she did in 02, I don't see a reason why she couldn't get back into the top 10.

Had the chance to see Hantuchova/Dementieva play live yesterday. She (Hantuchova) was rockin'. She'd open up the court with some wide serves and then take advantage of it, not to mention threading the needle a few times when Dementieva came to net. Hantuchova was in control the whole time. When Dementieva did manage to be the agressor she was tough, but Daniella jumped back onto her. She got some seriously bad calls in a row by one particular line judge, but held it together. Where she's beeen cracking in tight spots before she was now taking her time and maintaining focus. It was great to see. As much as i love Dementieva it was awesome to see Hantuchova play the kind of tennis people expected from her a few years back. Man, she can smack the ball. It'll be a different day with Clijsters, but here's to hoping she can play tough. She still looks like she might break in half, with gangly limbs flying everytime she hit the ball, but she seems fit and hungry. Atta girl.

Stayed for some doubles and enjoyed watching Martinez/Ruano-Pascual play Dementieva/Pennetta. Elena's got some unbelievable hands at net...and Pennetta, what a doll. She's a beautiful girl, and has some great hands at net as well...very graceful.

That's for sure. You'd think they'd realize the reason most people go to a tournament website is to get scores and draws and if they're on the site, they sure aren't easy to find.

Was so glad to see Hantuchova make it to the final, even if she got lucky with a walkover. I only saw the last game versus Clijsters. Kim did look gangly, and DH was spraying balls, but I liked her game. Here's hoping for a good US Open.

Doubles is coming on the Tennis Channel now.

[ August 14, 2005, 05:01 PM: Message edited by: shore ]

The odd thing is, and Pam Shriver and Mary Jo Fernandez mentioned it too, was that Hantuchova appeared to be dictating play in the first set. A couple of points she missed by inches with those big groundies are what made the difference in the first set. Too bad, I think Hantuchova could have won it with the confidence from a first set win.

I have to say that it's good to see Hantuchova back to that confident style of play, with those big, flat, pummelling groundies and a great out-wide first serve. Sure, she could step her second serve up a notch, and work on her movement, but I thought she looked great out there. She's a very beautiful young lady, no wonder she has those endorsements in Japan. In fact, if I found myself questioning myself watching those long legs running around the court...but all it took was one look back at Nigel Sears, her coach, and I came back around.

Hantuchova is such a pretty, sweet girl. It really was nice to see her playing well again and back in a final. And up to 4-4 in the first, she was great. I thought she was at least gonna win the first set.

I am surprised by how mystified Pam and Mary Joe have been over the course of the past few weeks by how defensive Clijsters plays sometimes. Granted, I think Kim isn't playing her absolute best and the defensive laps can cost her, but it's not at all shocking to me that Kim can win a set 6-4 and only hit three of four winners. She's got the best defense in women's tennis. She has the ability to be more aggressive on short balls or when she sees an opportunity, but certainly she can beat most players just by being a backboard.

Also shocking ... Pam is pregnant with TWINS!! eek!

Oh and also ... Kim's new boyfriend is way cuter than Lleyton. You go girl!

I second that! I always thought she could do better.

Please add Oliver Rochus to my growing list. wink