Maria Sharapova

Is Sharapova prettier than Williams? Well…most of you would prpbably say she is. Is she a better tennis player? Most of you would probably say she is not.

In the famous Wimbledon championship, where Maria Sharapova defeated Williams last year, Venus Williams managed to get her third championship. In the brutal final she won over Lindsay Davenport 4-6 7-6 9-7. Reuters called it “the longest, and one of the most dramatic, women’s finals in Wimbledon history”.

So, how much will Maria Sharapova make after this year? She needs to nail some majors to earn that $18.2 million (according to Forbes) like she did last year.

Well, she has a pretty face, long legs, is liked by fans , so maybe those Canon, Motorola and Tag Heuer deals will continue. She is still number 2-ranked player in the world.

MELBOURNE, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Russia’s Maria Sharapova is set to regain the women’s world number one ranking after Amelie Mauresmo’s surprise defeat in the Australian Open fourth round on Sunday.

After current top-spot holder Justine Henin-Hardenne withdrew from the Melbourne Park event for personal reasons, Sharapova ensured there would be a new No. 1 by reaching the last 16 at the year’s first grand slam.

Sharapova and Mauresmo were set to vie for the elite ranking but with the French reigning champion’s defeat in Melbourne and the Russian having fewer points to defend, most of the permutations were made redundant.

Only third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova can deprive her fellow Russian of top spot if she wins the tournament and U.S. Open champion Sharapova loses her fourth-round match to Vera Zvonareva on Monday.

Mauresmo has spent 39 weeks as the world number one in her career, while Sharapova, who last topped the rankings in August 2005, has enjoyed the honour for seven weeks.

Kim Clijsters, Martina Hingis and Serena Williams are the only other remaining women at the Melbourne Park event to have held the top ranking.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Russia’s Maria Sharapova is set to regain the women’s world number one ranking after Amelie Mauresmo’s surprise defeat in the Australian Open fourth round on Sunday.

After current top-spot holder Justine Henin-Hardenne withdrew from the Melbourne Park event for personal reasons, Sharapova ensured there would be a new No. 1 by reaching the last 16 at the year’s first grand slam.

Sharapova and Mauresmo were set to vie for the elite ranking but with the French reigning champion’s defeat in Melbourne and the Russian having fewer points to defend, most of the permutations were made redundant.

Only third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova can deprive her fellow Russian of top spot if she wins the tournament and U.S. Open champion Sharapova loses her fourth-round match to Vera Zvonareva on Monday.

Mauresmo has spent 39 weeks as the world number one in her career, while Sharapova, who last topped the rankings in August 2005, has enjoyed the honor for seven weeks.

Kim Clijsters, Martina Hingis and Serena Williams are the only other remaining women at the Melbourne Park event to have held the top ranking.

MELBOURNE, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Russia’s Maria Sharapova will regain the world number one ranking after Amelie Mauresmo and Svetlana Kuznetsova suffered surprise defeats in the Australian Open fourth round on Sunday.

After current top-spot holder Justine Henin-Hardenne withdrew from the Melbourne Park event for personal reasons, Sharapova ensured there would be a new No. 1 by reaching the last 16 at the year’s first grand slam.

Sharapova and Frenchwoman Mauresmo were set to vie for the elite ranking but with the defending champion’s defeat in Melbourne and the Russian having fewer points to defend, most of the permutations were made redundant.

Only third seed Kuznetsova could have deprived her fellow Russian of top spot if she had won the tournament and U.S. Open champion Sharapova lost her fourth-round match to Vera Zvonareva on Monday. That equation was also scratched on Sunday after Kuznetsova fell to Israel’s Shahar Peer.

Mauresmo has spent 39 weeks as the world number one in her career, while Sharapova, who last topped the rankings in August 2005, has enjoyed the honour for seven weeks.

Kim Clijsters, Martina Hingis and Serena Williams are the only other remaining women at the Melbourne Park event to have held the top ranking.

MELBOURNE, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Top seed Maria Sharapova edged out Vera Zvonareva 7-5 6-4 to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals for the third time in her career on Monday.

The 19-year-old Russian clinched a tight opening set to take the initiative and despite recovering from 5-2 down in the second, the 22nd seed could not fend off Sharapova, who won in an hour and 46 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.

Sharapova was grateful to come through in relatively quick time after a draining week of action at Melbourne Park and against an opponent who had beaten her twice in their five career meetings.

“It was very good to win in two sets today because I’ve had some tough matches against her. I came up with three really good shots to win it at the end there,” she said in a courtside interview.

Sharapova, who will regain the world number one ranking at the end of the tournament, served solidly in the first and did not concede a break point throughout.

She sealed her own break with a crunching forehand drive and Zvonareva swiped her racket at the floor in frustration.

Sharapova took the momentum into the second set, breaking in Zvonareva’s first service game and making it a double break when a double fault gave her a 5-2 advantage.

Zvonareva briefly threatened a revival when she broke the Sharapova serve and then held her own to pull back to 5-4 but the U.S. Open champion clung on, sealing victory with another forehand winner.

Sharapova, a semi-finalist the last two years here, plays her third fellow Russian of the tournament in the last eight when she faces 12th seed Anna Chakvetadze.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA (TICKER) — Maria Sharapova is finding her form at the Australian Open.

The top seed from Russia, Sharapova rolled into the fourth round at the year’s first major with a 6-3, 6-1 rout of No. 30 Tathiana Garbin of Italy on Saturday.

Sharapova nearly was stunned by Camille Pin of France in the first round but dropped just three games against countrywoman Anastassia Rodionova on Thursday and was nearly as efficient against Garbin.

“I think with every single match, you know, it’s going to get tougher and you know that you have to improve,” Sharapova said. “I try to look at this match a little bit, see what I still think I need to get better.”

The reigning U.S. Open champion, Sharapova will oppose Vera Zvonareva in the round of 16 after the 22nd-seeded Russian surprisingly dominated 13th-seeded Serbian Ana Ivanovic, 6-1, 6-2.

Sixth seed and three-time champion Martina Hingis of Switzerland moved on with a 6-2, 6-1 rout of Japan’s Aiko Nakamura. Hingis will take on either No. 9 Dinara Safina of Russia or No. 19 Na Li of China in the fourth round and will have an extra day to prepare, as their third-round match was postponed until Sunday because of steady rain.

“Well, it’s always a great feeling to be in the second week of a Grand Slam,” Hingis said. “That’s what you come here for. Being seeded sixth, that’s what you expect, at least. I’m happy I was able to at least fulfill my commitment so far.”

Nobody dropped fewer games in the first two rounds of the women’s draw than Kim Clijsters, and the fourth seed from Belgium continued her strong play with a 6-3, 6-3 triumph over No. 29 Alona Bondarenko of the Ukraine.

The 23-year-old Clijsters, who has said she will retire at the end of the year, posted a “double-bagel” victory over Russian Vasilisa Bardina in the first round Tuesday and followed with a 6-3, 6-0 rout of Japan’s Akiko Morigami two days later.

“I didn’t get tested at all in the first three matches,” Clijsters said. “I saved all my energy. I think that’s a good thing to take with me into the second week.

“(But) everything needs to get better. As you play better players, you automatically play better. I think everything from the serve to the return, everything has to be a little bit more focused, little bit more powerful. Just everything has to be better, I think, when you play the better players.”

Clijsters, who won her lone Grand Slam at the 2005 U.S. Open, will meet either No. 15 Daniela Hantuchova or American Ashley Harkleroad in the fourth round. Their match also was pushed back a day because of the weather.

Harkleroad and Serena Williams are the only American women remaining in the draw.

Eighth-seeded Swiss Patty Schnyder rallied past Australian Alicia Molik, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0, in a night match. She next will play either 12th-seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze or Jelena Kostanic Tosic of Croatia, whose match was postponed.