January 05, 2009

Maria Sharapova blogs again from her Official Website where she announces that she won't play in Hong Kong but she is already on the court hitting and hopefully she will be ready to defend her title at the Australian Open... Check it out...

Hello Everyone!

I am finally back on the court hitting tennis balls again! It is such a relief to be out there enjoying every second of it.

Let me tell you how I got to this point. As you know from my last doodle, I went to see the top shoulder specialist in NY and he sent me to work with a shoulder rehab specialist in Phoenix, Arizona.

January 05, 2009

When Maria Sharapova has won a Grand Slam, she has posted an impressive winning streak of at least 14 wins around the win.  Maria's biggest winning streak was 19 wins after she the US Open in 2006.

Here is a detailed summary of each winning streak:

BIRMINGHAM 2004 - SAN DIEGO 2004
Maria started this winning streak on the grasscourts of Birmingham.  Maria won her 1st ever grasscourt title and posted 5 wins including wins over Patty Schnyder and Tatiana Golovin.  Maria then headed south to Wimbledon to play her 3rd Grand Slam of the year in London as the 13th seed.  Maria looked very impressive in the opening rounds as she dropped only 11 games and faced her first test in Amy Frazier but still managed to win in straight sets.  Then the work began in the quarters as she defeated Ai Sugiyama of Japan in 3 sets and scored a victory of Lindsay Davenport in the semis.  In the final Maria was playing the 2-time defending champion Serena Williams and Maria looked like she was the defending champion as she scored a 6-1 6-4 victory to take her 1st Grand Slam victory at the tender age of 17.  To complete the streak Maria scored 2 wins at San Diego in reaching the quarters.

December 31, 2008

Maria Sharapova blogs again from her Official Website where she announces that she won't play in Hong Kong but she is already on the court hitting and hopefully she will be ready to defend her title at the Australian Open... Check it out...

Hello Everyone!

I am finally back on the court hitting tennis balls again! It is such a relief to be out there enjoying every second of it.

Let me tell you how I got to this point. As you know from my last doodle, I went to see the top shoulder specialist in NY and he sent me to work with a shoulder rehab specialist in Phoenix, Arizona.

December 31, 2008

In a statement today, the Hong Kong Tennis Patrons' Association announced the withdrawal of Maria Sharapova from the Hong Kong event.

Sharapova has reluctantly withdrawn, as full recovery from a shoulder injury has allowed her to only start hitting balls just over two weeks ago. She's playing but has not had sufficient training to compete at the high level that Hong Kong demands. Maria announced:

"It's with much disappointment that I have to withdraw from Hong Kong. I've been using this event for the last five years to get match fit and ready for the new season, in fact Hong Kong has been successful in preparing me for the Australian Open. I am very sorry I won't be competing, and I deeply apologise to my fans and the sponsors that they won't see me there this year. I'm just not ready to play against the top class competition in Hong Kong, although I remain hopeful for Australia where I'm the defending champion. Believe me, it's been a very difficult decision, but I only started practicing 16 days ago. I love playing in Hong Kong, and the Organisers attract a world class field."

December 29, 2008

Maria Sharapova is the most searched athlete on Yahoo in 2008 and she is the only tennis player in the top 10. Yahoo has published their annual list of most searched athletes and Sharapova comes in at #1. Maria Sharapova who has been out of the courts since August due to a shoulder injury won the Australian Open and was the number 1 for 2 weeks in May after Justine Henin retired.

December 21, 2008

Maria Sharapova is featured in Women's Health magazine in this month's issue.  Maria did a shoot in Phoenix and all of the photos from the article are available in the gallery.

Here is an extract from the article:

Maria Sharapova can pull off the whole Blonde Goddess thing with ease - it's no problem when you're a world-class athlete, a multi-multi millionaire and 6-foot-2 inches of beautiful.  But then she unleases this very un-goddesslike noise, a booming sound that has nothing to do with smashing the stuffing out of a two-ounce tennis ball.