Maria Sharapova

By Nina Rota It couldn’t happen again, right? Allya Kudryavtseva, Janko Tipsarevic, and Zheng Jie wiped out their top ten opponents at Wimbledon. Maria Sharapova was down 2-5 and serving to stay in the first set when she looped a high forehand to her opponent, Alla Kudryavtseva. Kudryavtseva took the...

By Patricia Davis Only a few weeks ago at the French Open, I watched Rad play another talented newcomer, Alize Cornet of France. Martina Navratilova was calling that match, and God knows, I am her number one fan who loves her trenchant, often blunt opinions. But I had to take exception with her comments. She pra...

By Lexa W. Lee Many pro players have spent time at his place (or what used to be his place, before it was sold to IMG some years ago); however, by his own admission, Nick’s never taken a kid from start to star. His most famous students, among them Agassi, Courier, Seles, Mary Pierce, and Maria Sharapova, had...

By Patricia Davis Dinara Safina has definitely arrived. Next up for her is a quarterfinal encounter with Elena Dementieva, who took out Vera Zvonareva in what must have been a wildly diverging match judging by their score, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.  I like Safina’s chances here, even though Dementieva is the more expe...

By Patricia Davis Is there any better opponent for Maria Sharapova than the natural elements themselves? She’s had her whacks at lots of players, so maybe it’s high time she took on Mother Nature. And don’t bet all your dough on Mother Nature, either. The wind gave Maria a run for her money yesterday at Roland G...

By Patricia Davis This question gets asked all the time - can Roger Federer win the French Open - but his case is different from Maria’s. Roger can actually play well on clay and is quite familiar with the surface. If Rafael Nadal is the second best guy behind Federer on grass, then Roger is the second best player...

By Nina Rota Jankovic has bought a plot of land in San Diego and is planning to build a house there. She prefers the California weather to the humid Florida weather where she now owns two homes. When San Diego Tribune writer Jerry McGee asked her if she was moving to San Diego she asked, “Are you going to invi...

By Nate Cunningham First, I want to congratulate Elena Dementieva, for getting through Ivanovic as well as an inspired, Henin-conquering Schiavone, before getting a little revenge for her 2004 U.S. Open final loss to Svetlana Kuznetsova to take the title in Dubai. Dementieva’s having a very good year so far...