U.S. Open: Maria Sharapova survives in first round

Maria Sharapova, seeded third and one of the few women other than Serena Williams given a chance to win this U.S. Open, needed to find her full survival mode Monday in the first round.

Sharapova, 24, needed three sets and 2 hours 34 minutes to oust 19-year-old Heather Watson of  Britain, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. Watson, ranked 104th in the world, was making her U.S. Open debut and it was in Arthur Ashe Stadium. By the final set, fans had embraced Watson's quietly powerful game, chanting "Hea-ther Wat-son," often as a noise counterpunch to Sharapova's achingly loud shrieking.

The last of Sharapova's three major titles was at the 2006 U.S. Open and her seeding here is her highest at a Grand Slam since she was third at the 2008 Wimbledon.

Sharapova overcame 58 unforced errors and eight double faults

This season Sharapova is 12-0 in three-set matches. She said her best explanation for that is, "I guess no matter how tired I am, I keep going for it, keep fighting for it.

"I knew I wasn't playing my best," Sharapova said. "The goal on a day like this is just to get through."

As for her opponent, Sharapova said, "I think she showed some of her best tennis today. She played really smart, especially in the first set when I was making so many errors."

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-- Diane Pucin, reporting from New York

Photo: Maria Sharapova returns a backhand shot to Heather Watson during her first-round match at the U.S. Open on Monday. Credit: Mike Groll / Associated Press

Maria Sharapova advances to Wimbledon final

Maria Sharapova survived some shaky serving (13 double faults) by being overpowering from the baseline, and she beat unseeded German Sabine Lisicki 6-4, 6-3 in 1 hour, 27 minutes in a Wimbledon semifinal.

Sharapova, seeded fifth, won this tournament in 2004, but she hasn't been past the semifinals since 2006 and seemed to be in trouble early when Lisicki won the first three games of the match in seven minutes, helped by the fact that Sharapova served two double faults in her first service game and got broken at love in the second game.

But Sharapova may have saved the match in the fourth game of the first set when she saved a break point and fought through a 12-point game to hold serve. Immediately after that, Sharapova broke Lisicki's serve with the help of powerful service returns.

PHOTOS: 2011 Wimbledon

"It's amazing to be back in the finals of Wimbledon, to break through here to get to final," Sharapova said. "I'm really happy even though I didn't play my best tennis today. She played really well, and I did quite the opposite. I had to stay focused and get back on track. I remained really focused for the rest of the match."

Sharapova will play left-handed Petra Kvitova, a first-time Wimbledon finalist, Saturday for the title.

"I have realistic expectations," said Sharapova, 24. "I haven't gone past the fourth round in a few years and to be in the final again is a great achievement for me, but I feel I have more to do. Petra's a really tricky player, a great grass-court player, a lefty who uses her serve really well. It will be a tough match, but I'm looking forward to it."

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-- Diane Pucin in Wimbledon, England

Photo: Maria Sharapova. Credit: Eddie Keogh / Reuters.

Petra Kvitova defeats a noisy Victoria Azarenka to enter her first Wimbledon final

Petra Kvitova, a 21-year-old from the Czech Republic, became the first left-hander since her hero Martina Navratilova to advance to the women's Wimbledon final Thursday, with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 win over fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.

Kvitova, seeded eighth, is 6 feet tall, and when she was in control of the match, it was because of her powerful serving. She won on her second match point when Azarenka, a notoriously loud presence on court, punctuating every swing with a loud shriek, served a double fault.

PHOTOS: 2011 Wimbledon

"I'm so happy," said Kvitova, who made the semifinals here last year. "I don't believe it that I'm in the final. I served very well, all match it was about the serve."

Kvitova said she got to meet Navratilova in the locker room. Navratilova, also Czech-born, gave Kvitova a good-luck message, the semifinal winner said.

In the finals, Kvitova will play the winner of Thursday's second semifinal, between fifth-seeded and 2004 Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova and unranked wild-card entrant Sabine Lisicki of Germany.

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-- Diane Pucin in Wimbledon, England

 Photo: Petra Kvitova. Credit: Leon Neal / Getty Images.

Wimbledon: Maria Sharapova advances to semifinals

Maria Sharapova has made it to the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time since 2006, beating Dominika Cibulkova on Tuesday with a dominant performance of both baseline power and serving perseverance.

Sharapova took one hour exactly to overpower Slovakia's Cibulkova 6-1, 6-1. The 5-foot-3 Cibulkova had upset top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki on Monday. Sharapova will meet German wild card Sabine Lisicki in one women’s semifinal.

“It’s an honor,” Sharapova said afterward. “It’s been a few years since I got past the fourth round, and now I’m in the semifinals with a chance to take it a step further.”

Sharapova, of Russia, won the first of her three major titles here in 2004 when she was a surprise winner, at age 17, over Serena Williams. Since then, Sharapova has won the U.S. Open and Australian Open but has won no majors since undergoing shoulder surgery in 2008.

It took Sharapova only 27 minutes to win the first set, and her set point came when Cibulkova wildly knocked a forehand long. Sharapova’s fiancée, former Los Angeles Laker Sasha Vujacic, waved one finger in understated celebration. He was more obviously clapping when Sharapova saved a break point in the final game and then, with some big serving, finally forced Cibulkova into a harmless forehand well off the court.

“Come on,” Sharapova shouted as Vujacic, now a member of the New Jersey Nets, stood and cheered.

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-- Diane Pucin, in London

Photo: Maria Sharapova returns to Dominika Cibulkova  during their quarterfinal match Tuesday. Credit: Kerim Okten / EPA

William and Kate drop in on Wimbledon, do the wave in the Royal Box

Prince William and bride Kate surprised fourth-seeded Andy Murray as they made their first appearance as a married couple in Wimbledon's Royal Box on Monday.

British player Murray cooperated by winning his fourth-round match over Frenchman Richard Gasquet 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-2, and afterward Murray apologized because he had a scruffy little beard. He did, however, manage a courtly bow to the couple after his victory.

"If I'd known they were coming, I would have shaved," Murray said. "I was thinking to myself as I came off that I was sweaty and very hairy. I said to them, 'I'm sorry, I'm a bit sweaty.' "

The couple stood and applauded Murray after his win and stayed through Venus Williams' loss to Tsvetana Pironkova and most of defending champion Rafael Nadal's win over Juan Martin del Potro.

Kate wore a summery, off-white dress, suitable for the warmest day yet of the tournament. The royal couple walked into the box with former champion Billie Jean King, a six-time singles champion here.

-- Diane Pucin, reporting from Wimbledon

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Photo: Kate, with Billie Jean King, left, and husband Prince William, participates in doing the wave during the fourth round of Wimbledon, June 27, 2011. Credit: Clive Brunskill / Getty Images

 

Wozniacki, Sharapova moving along, not always quietly, at Wimbledon

Caroline Wozniacki is the top-seeded women's player at Wimbledon and yet little attention has come her way. She has moved to the third round with little trouble or notice.

On Friday she won her second-round match over Virginie Razzano of France 6-1, 6-3. She played on Court 2, the one that defending champion Serena Williams had felt insulted to be exiled to on Thursday.  And, not that it gained rapid notice around the world, but Wozniacki wasn't happy about it either.

"Obviously I think I deserve to play on one of the bigger courts," Wozniacki said. "Obviously, everyone wants to play in Centre Court.  It's up to the tournament to decide where we're going to play. I just go out there and I try to win. I'm a competitor, so it really doesn't matter. The court is the same and the size is the same. You know, I just go out there and play."

Wozniacki is also smiling through constant questioning about whether she deserves to be the No. 1-ranked player in the world even though she has not won a major title yet. Her stock response is to suggest that the rankings computer can't be all wrong.

Maria Sharapova and her tribute to Chernobyl

On her website, Maria Sharapova has posted a very personal message detailing her feelings about the 25-year anniversary of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, one that affected her parents directly, as well as how the recent tsunami-caused nuclear crisis in Japan brought similar emotions to the forefront for the tennis star.

Sharapova's parents fled Chernobyl, where they were living, and moved to Siberia, where Sharapova was born, after the Ukraine power plant suffered a partial meltdown. Eventually Sharapova and her father, Yuri, came to the United States will little money to further Sharapova's tennis career.

Now the 24-year-old is ranked ninth in the world and has won three Grand Slam titles in her career, including Wimbledon when she was only 17.

There is also a story on the WTA site detailing Sharapova's emotional and financial commitment to Chernobyl.

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-- Diane Pucin

Photo: Maria Sharapova watches the New Jersey Nets play the Charlotte Bobcats on April 11. Credit: Julio Cortez / Associated Press

What if, ahhh...eeee....Michelle Wie was more like....un....ohhh..Maria Sharapova?

Watching the final set of the Sony Ericsson Open women's championship match between Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova, and the groundstrokes are breathtaking and the fierce fight of the wavery-serving Sharapova is amazing. She's got 42 unforced errors and pretty much can't hold her serve but she's sticking to the second set as if the finish line is a wall of glue and Azarenka is trying to pry her off.

Soon as this is over, it's off to the golf course to focus on the third round of the Kraft Nabisco Championship at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage and all the noisy screeching, grunting coming from this tennis match makes my mind wander. What if golfers howled on their backswing?

Imagine if Michelle Wie let out an "Ahhh....EEEE..." every time she teed off while on the hole in front of her Morgan Pressel was howling ""Unnnn...ooooof,.." on every iron shot and Brittany Lincicome over on another hole was screeching "Aiiiii...Yeee..," as she putted.

I have a vision of small desert animals scurrying about with their little paws over their ears and the human gallery running for the hills.

Well, Azarenka just beat Sharapova, 6-1, 6-4. So off to the golf course. And blessed, blessed silence.

-- Diane Pucin

Photo: Maria Sharapova lets out a yell as she hits a backhand return to Victoria Azarenka in the Sony Ericsson Open final on Saturday. Credit: Andrew Innerarity / Reuters

Nadal, Wozniacki lead lineup for Indian Wells

The lineup for the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells was announced Wednesday and includes the top three players on the men's and women's tours: Rafael Nadal and Caroline Wozniacki (No. 1), Roger Federer and Vera Zvonareva (No. 2) and Novak Djokovic and Kim Clijsters (No. 3). The tournament runs March 7-20.

Nadal, however, appeared to suffer a thigh injury Wednesday in his quarterfinal match at the Australian Open against fellow Spaniard David Ferrer and wound up losing, 6-4, 6-2, 6-3.

Wozniacki, a finalist at last year's BNP Paribas Open, is seeking her first Grand Slam title this week at the Australian Open and is into the semifinals.

Federer, the only man to win the BNP Paribas Open three years in a row (2004-2006), will face Djokovic in Thursday's semifinal at the Australian Open.

The Indian Wells tournament will also feature defending women's champion Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic (2008), Daniela Hantuchova (2007, 2002), and Maria Sharapova (2006); on the men’s side, defending champion Ivan Ljubicic and Lleyton Hewitt (2001-2002) join Nadal, Federer and Djokovic as former champions in the draw.

Others in the field: Robin Soderling, Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych, Ferrer, Andy Roddick, Fernando Verdasco, Mikhail Youhzny, Samantha Stosur, Francesca Schiavone, Mardy Fish, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Sam Querrey, Melanie Oudin, John Isner and the world No. 1 doubles team, Mike and Bob Bryan.

And something new at Indian Wells: the Hawkeye replay technology and video displays will be on all eight match courts.

--Debbie Goffa

Photo: Caroline Wozniacki. Credit: William West / AFP