MARIA SHOWS MORE focus, DRIVE THAN ANNA

Sharapova busts Kournikova comparisons
Beats Zvonareva in a field packed with Russians

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Susan and Fred Mullane/Camerawork USA

FROM ROLAND GARROS – The problem with being Maria Sharapova is the constant Anna Kournikova comparisons. The Russian is quite over them, but some scribes aren't, so she'll likely have to deal with them until she wins her first Grand Slam.

That time could be coming much faster than anyone anticipated it would. On Friday, the 17-year-old striking blonde with butch strokes scored perhaps the biggest win of her yearling career, taking down 10th-seed Vera Zvonareva, 6-3 7-6(3) to gain the fourth round of Roland Garros.

The 18th-seeded Sharapova is now looking at two matches she should win if she plays up to her level: against unseeded Marlene Weingartner in the fourth round and then very likely against No. 14 seed Paola Suarez in the quarters. Should she triumph, she'll equal Kournikova's achievement as a 17-year-old: reaching the semis of a Grand Slam. In 1997, Kournikova volleyed her way to the Wimbledon semis, a feat the now semi-retired glamour girl never matched again.

Sharapova and Kournikova have their similarities: Both were coached by Nick Bollettieri when they first arrived in the US, both signed modeling contracts at a very early age and both are lorded over by a controlling parent – Anna by her mother, Alla; and Maria by her father and part-coach, Yuri. Like Kournikova, who has now lived in the US for 15 of her 23 years, Sharapova is also considered to be just as American than Russian by many of her peers as she's lived in the States since she's been nine and speaks English with only a slight accent.

But the differences between the two are also obvious. Off-court, Kournikova is more mistrustful and it takes one years to get her to come out behind her defensive shell. When the so-called world's sexiest athlete has decided that that you are not out to destroy her, she can be delightful. But when she thinks you are out to get her, she transforms into an ice princess with fangs.

Although Sharapova has undergone a tremendous amount of media training and can be stilted in her responses, she is more polite and makes a big attempt to be engaging. Her sometimes-glassy-eyed-stare is troubling, but, at least at this point in her career, it's easy to perceive that she's not faking when she says that her results and improvement are of primary importance to her.

"She's always been composed," said her agent, Max Eisenburg, who has know her since she's been 11. "She's just a very nice girl."

WON A TOURNAMENT – NO, MAKE THAT TWO
Sharapova came to the world's attention last year when she shrieked her way to the fourth round of Wimbledon. And she quickly went where Kournikova has never gone before – to the trophy stands in Japan and Quebec to collect her winner's crowns.

But she has struggled some in her sophomore year, both off-court, where she has gone on a bit of coaching merry-go-round, and on, where every time she made a push at a tournament, the elite players would get the best of her. That occurred in Memphis, where Zvonareva outlasted her; at Indian Wells, where Anastasia Myskina wiped her out; in Miami, where Serena Williams knocked her down; and in Berlin, when Jennifer Capriati outlasted her.

Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA

Zvonareva was tough for two sets … but not tough enough for Sharapova.

That's why her French Open win over Zvonareva meant so much. After spending most of the match with her gloves off and taking it to her all-business foe with huge cuts off the ground, she sputtered toward the end of the second set, double faulting when attempting to serve the match out at 6-5. But in the tiebreak, she let loose and ripped five winners. After winning the match, she let out a loud shriek and pumped her first toward Yuri, Eisenberg and her new traveling coach, former ATP player, Mauricio Hadad.

"It was a real breakthrough win for me," Sharapova said. "I've had a few matches in the past where I was in that kind of situation and didn't finish the match off when I needed to," she said.

DAD IS MUM, FOR NOW
Yuri wouldn't talk about his daughter's victory, but did say he would speak"only after she wins the tournament."

That is certainly premature to say about a teenager who didn't' grow up on clay and who admittedly is lacking in upper body strength. As fellow Russian Nadia Petrova said, it's easier for Sharapova now because all the top players haven't seen her but the further she goes, the pressure and eyes on her will increase.

Sharapova's longtime guru, Robert Lansdorp, has said that it could take her another year or so to challenge the Top-5 players such as the Williams sisters and the Belgians. But Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters aren't in the draw and Serena and Venus are on the other side of the draw. Lansdorp never mentioned Amelie Mauresmo or Lindsay Davenport, one of whom Sharapova could face in the semis.

Who know, Maria may just may eclipse Anna by next Saturday by reaching the Roland Garros final.

"I don't think anything can stop me unless I lose," Maria laughed. "So far, I couldn't be more confident. But I just want to look toward the next round."

But there's one thing that Sharapova is sure of: She's not Anna. She's just Maria: not semi-retired, not traipsing all over the world arm-in-arm with pop star Enrique Iglesias or planning on playing an exhibition during the second week of a Grand Slam. She's a determined teen who's learning on the job and plans to make her own history on court.

"Everyone wants to be themselves and don't want to be compared to anyone,' she said. "Every individual is different and so I am."