SHOOTING FOR SHANGHAI TROPHY ON SUNDAY

Will Anna allow Anna to win first title?

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Fred Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

Give credit to Anna Kournikova for traveling half way across the world to the Shanghai Open to play a Tier IV tournament where she has her best opportunity to win a title since February, when she looked like a lock to win Acapulco and then was crushed by Katerina Srebotnik in the semis.

On Saturday Kournikova took out nails tough counterpuncher Ai Sugiyama 6-4 7-5 in the semis and now will met top-seeded Anna Smashnova in the finals.

Recall that earlier this summer, Kournikova toppled Smashnova in Palo Alto and San Diego in back to back weeks; the first match was an impressive all-court romp and the second one a tortuous three-setter where it took Anna a set and a half to remember that the way to beat the Israeli is by coming to net and shorten points.

So now the 21-year-old Kournikova enters her fourth singles final in her seven-year career and her first final since Moscow '00. Many analysts have ridden her relentlessly about her inability to win a crown and there's no question that Enrique Igelesias' favorite woman would love to put that line of questioning behind her.

"I'm not going to be thinking about the big picture, I'm just going to be thinking about the actual match," said Kournikova. "I'm really not thinking about that and I haven't really been thinking about it for a long time. I'm just trying to have fun out there and enjoy … and achieve something for myself."

For Anna to say she hasn't been thinking about it for a long time is a little white fib, but maybe what she meant to say was she hasn't thought about it this week – which can be a long time for a player who was thinking too much about how the tennis world was perceiving her three weeks ago at the U.S. Open. There she was embarrassed in the first round by Angelique Widjaja, who Smashnova crushed in the other Shanghai semi.

The pressure has been off in Shanghai until Sunday, when she knows that the planet will be anxious to see if she can win a title that she is more than capable of grabbing. Kournikova is a better player than Smashnova and if she plays to the best of her ability and doesn't gag, she'll be the one raising the trophy.

"In this tournament, I've been playing much smarter. I haven't been maybe
winning with my shots, but more with my head," Kournikova said.

She's need a clear mind tomorrow.