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Soaring Sharapova hammers Kuznetsova in semiMaria's form best since August; Roddick ready to go in ShanghaiBy Matthew Cronin, TennisReporters.net
Sharapova, who came into the Championships with a sore shoulder and still isn't hitting first serves at full capacity, was devastating off the ground, showing off her vaunted crosscourt game, gamely stepping inside the court and finishing off numerous points at the net with swing volleys. After she pushed a one-handed backhand volley on set point in the first set and ended up losing an athletic rally, it appeared that Sharapova might be headed for an exit, but some sound coaching from Michael Joyce stayed with her in the final two sets, as she didn’t allow Kuznetsova to control the court with her inside out forehand as she hammered away at her crosscourt with her own brutish forehand, allowing her to open up to her foe's more vulnerable backhand side. Sharapova also returned with ambition and accuracy, taking second serves and torching them inches within the baseline. While the 20-year-old didn't ring up numerous aces or service winners, she placed her first serve very well and, as a result, received a number of soft mid-court balls that she feasted on. "She hurt me in the first set but I got hold of myself and stayed tough and positive which was really good," said Sharapova. Kuznetsova added, "I gave everything, but Maria was just better and played much better than her ranking. I'm disappointed but it is the best eight players in the world." Sharapova's win also means that Ana Ivanovic will join her in the semis from the Red Group. The winner of their match on Friday will likely face No. 1 Justin Henin, who has already advanced from the Yellow Group and embarrassed a vacuous Marion Bartoli 6-0, 6-0, gaining a pound of flesh for the Frenchwoman's shocking upset of her at Wimbledon. It was the most lopsided score in the 35-year history of the event. "I wanted to take revenge," said Henin. "Wimbledon is far away now. She was better than me that day and that was it. Now a few months later I'm fresh and in Wimbledon I was pretty tired. I had a pretty good reaction after that defeat though and it helped me It was not really about the score, it was the way I played. You could see I had a lot of determination out there tonight.” Ivanovic and Sharapova have played twice this year, both easy wins for the Serbian, who just turned 20. Ivanovic won their Tokyo semi when Sharapova retired down 6-1, 1-0, and crushed her foe in the Roland Garros semis 6-2, 6-1. While the match is a dead rubber in one sense, both women would like to avoid Henin in the semis. The big question is whether Sharapova's shoulder will survive two straight days of hardcore play.
Andy Roddick showed up in Shanghai on Thursday, ending speculation that he might pull out. We won't know until his first presser how close he came to staying home in Texas. Roddick is in Roger Federer's Red Group along with Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Gonzalez. Federer must be very afraid of this grouping. He's a combined 34-1 against the three, with his only loss coming against Roddick, whom you all know he owns a 14-1 record against. He's 10-0 against both Kolya and Gonzo. The Gold Group opens play Sunday with second-ranked Rafael Nadal facing newcomer Richard Gasquet and No. 3 Novak Djokovic playing another first-time qualifier, David Ferrer. "It's a tough draw with Rafa, Novak and Richard but all opponents are very difficult here as it is only the top eight players in the world," said Ferrer, who beat Nadal in the fourth round of the US Open. Breaking news – sort of Tommy Robredo and Juan Ignacio Chela have been named first and second alternates for Shanghai as No. 9 David Nalbandian declined to make the trip. They won an all-expenses paid trip plus $50,000 each just for standing around. Any man who plays receives $90,000, even if he doesn’t win a match. The German tennis federation said there is no medical evidence to support a contention by Alex Waske that Tommy Haas was poisoned during Germany's Davis Cup semifinal defeat by Russia. Waske said that an unnamed Russian told him in Moscow that Haas had been poisoned. German federation spokesman Oliver Quante said that Haas will travel to New York for hair and blood tests to see if there was any truth to the accusation, but added that German team doctor Erich Rembeck noted there was no medical evidence to support the claim. Davis Cup captain Shamil Tarpishchev told Reuters he had spoken to Waske and he denied ever making the accusations. Here comes the money quote from, Alexander Katsnelson, who was responsible for organizing the Davis Cup semifinal: "It would not have made sense for the Russians to poison Haas because he was Germany's weakest player in the tie." Next to whom? © TennisReporters.net 2007
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