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Kuznetsova dumps Sharapova, Ivanovic jars Jankovic

Fried Maria questionable for Miami; Fish v. Federer

Russian tennis player Svetlana Kuznetsova

Mal Taam/MALTphoto

The paper tiger No. 3 roars.

Anne-Marie Stark

The '08 Australian Open champ fades away. FROM THE PACIFIC LIFE OPEN IN INDIAN WELLS – When you are emotionally tapped and physically spent, the strong-legged and sometimes strong-willed Svetlana Kuznetsova is the last competitor you want to face. Maria Sharapova knew that when she dragged herself on court for the semifinals and although she semi-faked it for two sets or so, she was slow, late to the ball and didn't have enough oomph on her shots to have much of a chance.

As a result, her 18-match winning streak came to an end when she was beaten 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 on Friday in a sloppy, two-hour, 19-minute contest that lacked drama and quality from Sharapova's side.

"I was just playing with a much slower pace than I normally play with," Sharapova said. "I wasn't going for my shots as I normally do, I wasn't seeing the ball that good. I wasn't taking the short balls and doing anything with them, giving her the opportunity to get back in the points. There were a couple important points that could have changed the match, and she ended up winning them. I think from that she gained confidence and kind of steamrolled after that in the third set."

Kuznetsova played an excellent third set, serving big, yanking Sharapova off the court, stepping inside the baseline and plastering deep, heavily-topspinned forehands a la Rafa Nadal. She was charged up and knew she could wear her worn-down foe down.

"I think it's mentally better for me, even when she won second set," said Kuznetsova, who scored her fourth victory against Sharapova in eight meetings. "But with this heat on hard courts outdoors, I think I'm just little bit fitter. But in the third set I have a little bit advantage because I'm used to her game already a little bit more."

Sharapova left LA on Christmas day to fly to Asia for an exo pre-Australia and hasn't had more than a couple days off since. Plus for a couple of weeks before that, she was in hardcore training mode. There are no excuses for her performance and she made none, as she was outplayed by the better and fitter competitor.

But just by looking at the dark rings around her eyes post two recent fights with a virus, it was clear that she needs some R&R.

"I'm playing a lot of tennis, been flying a lot. It's all been work since I took a week off after the Championships. It's pretty much been nonstop from the season to all the tournaments I've been playing, and Fed Cup as well. It takes a toll on your body and your mind as well. You feel like you have to go out on the court and spend a lot of emotion and energy out there, and sometimes you just don't have it for every match."

As a result, her participation in next week's Sony Ericsson Open in Miami is up in the air, even though it's the tour sponsor and she just signed a major, multi-million-dollar deal with the company to promote their cell phones. The tournament is hard designated by the WTA, which means that if she skips it, she'll have to pay a huge fine. But she's not concerned about that.

"I'm sure that there's a pretty big fine, but the body's more important than a fine," she said. "I'm going to play it by ear. My body is kind of hurting a little bit. I just want to be smart about the decisions I make, and that's going to be made after a good night's rest, and have a little sit-down conversation. At this point of the year I can't really be putting any pressure to myself and saying, you got to go out there and play next week. If I'm not going to be ready, I'm not going to be ready. No one's forcing me to go out there and play. It just has to be smart decisions just because this year is so young and because I've already played so much. As a 21-year-old, I've got to kind of stand up and make some mature decisions that will help me throughout my career."

Kuznetsova will face top-seeded Ana Ivanovic in Sunday's final, who bested her fellow Serbian Jelena Jankovic 7-6(3), 6-3. Once again, Ivanovic rose to the occasion on the big points against JJ, playing a cool-headed tiebreak where Jankovic committed an amazing seven unforced errors, getting an early break in the third and sitting on it.

She broke Jankovic to win the contest with a fluke lob winner and then a vicious crosscourt forehand return. She didn't have to play great to win, only to serve smart, keep her forehand strong, her backhand true and jump on second serves.

Jankovic didn't return particularly well, one of her strengths. and as always against most of the top players, her weak serve let her down.

" I need to realize what I need to work on, and especially my serve and my return is usually better, but this is what I rely on," she said. " But today I just had a bad reaction. Couldn't really put pressure on her on that aspect. She was the better one today, so good luck to her in the final."

Kuznetsova hasn't won a title outright (she received a walkover at '07 New Haven) since taking 2006 Beijing. She's lost her last seven finals, prompting Jankovic to say, "for some reason Svetlana doesn't really score good in the finals. I don't know why is that. It's all mental, and why in the world would anybody get nerves in the finals and always like lose."

Kuznetsova also lost three, three-setters to Ivanovic at '07 Berlin, Roland Garros and the Tour Championships.

This is a critical event for both women: Kuznetsova needs to show that she's not a paper tiger, while the lighter-footed Ivanovic needs to display a consistency that has mostly eluded her. If she's going to realize her dream of becoming No. 1 and winning a Slam, she has to win Tier I events against players whom she has more ability than.

"If I going to face playing Ana, I feel ridiculous because I was the oldest player on this tournament. I didn't play nobody older than me, and I'm only 22," Kuznetsova said. "These girls are all like 19, 20. I'm like, 'Oh, my God, I'm 22.' Last few years I was newcomer and was like, Oh, my God. It's so frustrating me so much. The girls play me extremely well. I lost to Ana in Madrid, yeah. I had chances there. It's good to play her. She plays well, she serve well, she improve so much her movement on the court. It's going to be tough match, and definitely because I lost last time. But I took few revenges already here. Hopefully one more. "
Mardy Fish shocked David Nalbandian 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-6(4) and will face top seed Roger Federer, who won in walkover over a sick Tommy Haas. Go to usta.com for my report. Rafael Nadal will play Novak Djokovic in the other semi.

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