FEEDBACK: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8

Sharapova deserves respect, time to grow and mature

For all of you who thought Maria Sharapova was a flash in the pan and winning Wimbledon was a fluke, how did you like her running through the top field to win the year-end WTA Championships in LA?

That had to be hard for you to swallow. But seeing Sharapova win Wimbledon and the WTA Tour Championships was fabulous for her fans! Seeing new stars become big-time tennis players is always exciting. And I know some people criticize her playing some smaller tournaments early in her career. But winning smaller tournaments like the Japan Open and Quebec City in 2003 and Birmingham in 2004 led to her winning Wimbledon at the tender age of 17. And winning Seoul and the Japan Open again this fall led to her regaining her confidence and winning the year-ending WTA Championships.

Sharapova is only 17 and playing the occasional small tournament is wise scheduling on her part. Sharpapova should be the WTA and ITF player of the year and she should have earned respect from tennis fans for being a winner at the tender age of 17 and for playing hard on every point, as John McEnroe says.

And I noticed some people have criticized Sharapova for her on court speech after she won the WTA Championships. Sharapova is not perfect and she makes mistakes like anyone else. She should have remembered to congratulate Serena Williams on her great effort in the final but she forgot. That was unfortunate.

But I doubt it was intentional because she and Serena seem to get along well. I think because Sharapova is only 17 she deserves time to grow and mature as a player and person. During the championships trophy and check presentation, a fan ran on the court behind Maria and that may have thrown her off track where her speech was concerned. But, at least, in her speech Sharapova mentioned the Beslan, Russia school terror victims and that she donated her winner's Porsche to the victims. That was nice. In an injury-plagued year in women's tennis, Sharapova broke through to win big and she earned my respect not only by winning big but by playing every match hard and to win.

Robert S. Berran
Long Island, N.Y., USA