| Notes
on a draw sheet
Serena v. Sharapova off-court
Serena: 'Every week now, I get more famous,'
but Maria is all over TV
By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net
FROM THE JPMORGAN CHASE OPEN IN
CARSON. CALIF. – Serena and Venus Williams went to the premier
of Catwoman on Monday night, maybe thinking that could catch a
whiff of Halle Berry's superwoman skills.
The athletic toast of Hollywood, part-time actress Serena is not
only getting competition from Maria Sharapova on court, who drilled
her in the Wimbledon final, but off-court, too. After the Wimbledon
title-run, Sharapova went on a media carousel, appearing on high
profile TV shows from the Today Show to the Tonight Show with
Jay Leno. There, the Russian got into didn't back off challenging
Serena. When Leno asked her how she was able to take down a seemingly
unbeatable force such as Serena, Sharapova replied, "I guess
she's beatable now."
Serena, who made an appearance at the sports awards show the ESPYs
the same night, wouldn't rise to the bait.
"I was overly stressed on the day," Serena said. "Maria
doesn't cross my mind. She's not in my world right now. I have
millions and millions of things to think about."
Williams, who will make her debut in at the JP Morgan Classic
in Los Angeles on Wednesday, hasn't won a Slam since repeating
at '03 Wimbledon. She had knee surgery in August 2003 and didn't
return until March of this year, when she came back with a bang
and won Miami. But she hasn't won a title since then, being outrun
by Jennifer Capriati at the French Open and then in the Wimbledon
final, was overpowered by Sharapova. Given that her older sister,
Yetunde, was murdered last fall and that her knee was slow to
recover, Williams says she may have set the bar too high for herself.
"Maria played well and I
was really disappointed, but now I think that after not playing
for more than eight months, it wasn't that bad," Williams
said. "No one really knows about all the rehab I had to go
through. I learned a lot last year about life in general. I realized
that tennis isn't the most important thing in your life and you
can't take things for granted."
MARIA IS IN … BUT NOT SERENA,
YET
While Sharapova is the media darling of the moment, she hasn't
quite approached Williams' crossover celebrity status. On Monday,
Serena became the first women's tennis player to have a souvenir
bobblehead doll created in her liking. "It's amazing,"
Williams said. "But I guess that happens when you become
overly famous. Every week now, I get more famous."
Williams continues to insist that her multiple off-court pursuits,
which include acting and fashion design, don't distract her from
pursuing her tennis goals. "I have so much energy. It's crazy,"
she said. "I came out to LA immediately after Wimbledon and
began to practice. My first priority is God, my second is my family
and my third is tennis. The other stuff falls behind that."
The top seed at this week's JP Morgan Chase Open, six-time Grand
Slam champion Williams sees her loss to Sharapova as little more
than a one-off and plans on regaining the top spot soon.
"She treed a little and I played really bad," Williams
said. "She didn't have anything to lose and I put too much
pressure on myself. I don't even think of her. I just think about
the present, the future and me. I need to focus more on me. If
I keep working hard, I'll be back where I belong."
Justine's Woes
What to make of Justine Henin-Hardenne's withdrawal from San Diego
and Montreal with a continuing viral illness? How about that's
she doubtful for the Olympics? In a statement released to the
WTA Tour, the No. 1 said that her doctors advised her to wait
to return competition.
"As you can imagine, I'm
thoroughly disappointed," Henin-Hardenne said. "The
past four months have been a challenge. I have worked hard to
get back on court as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, my body
needs me to rest."
Henin-Hardenne hasn't played since falling in the second round
of Roland Garrosand that was her first match back since early
April. The Belgian is the defending champion of both San Diego
and Montreal, but she's so far ahead in the rankings that her
top spot won't be at risk until the US Open, and that's only if
the likes of Anastasia Myskina, Amelie Mauresmo and Lindsay Davenport
have great summers.
Kim Clijsters says she's not counting herself out of the Open
and neither is Monica Seles, but both are still very doubtful.
Dani's new Trainer
Speaking of Sharapova victims, Daniela Hantuchova is in Carson
and scored a solid straight-set win over Cara Black on Tuesday.
She says that she's much stronger than she was back in December,
when she hired trainer Marian Gejdos. She's up to 61 kilos, an
11-pound gain over her listed 2003 weight.
"I have much more power on my shots now," said Hantuchova,
who fell to Sharapova at Wimbledon after reaching her first '04
final at Eastbourne. "I feel much more relaxed now and eat
as much as I want. I knew I had to get stronger and I'm really
thankful that I met him. I knew that it wasn't possible to keep
going the way I did." Gejdos works with pro hockey players
in Hantuchova's native Slovakia.
Elena, Anastasia Keyed Maria's Run
With the exception on leading Russians Sharapova and Myskina,
all the other Russian of note are in Carson, including fourth-seed
Elena Dementieva, No. 5 Svetlana Kuznetsova (who's showing off
corn rows) , No. 7 Nadia Petrova and No. 8 Vera Zvonareva. All
are capable of winning Slam titles, including Dementieva, whose
performance in the Roland Garros was enough to make one's teeth
chatter.
It's important to note that with 23-year-olds Myskina and Dementieva
becoming the first Russians to break through to the Roland Garros
final, the Berlin "Slam" Wall collapsed with a thud.
It could be argued that if Myskina and Dementieva hadn't gotten
there, that the pressure on Sharapova to pull off the feat at
Wimby would have been too much.
"Everybody now believes in themselves. It was a huge moment
for Russia and our players," Dementieva said. "We had
a lot of good players but we were waiting for this moment. But
with Maria, it's difficult to say how she would have done. It
was surprised how well she played at Wimbledon. I was surprised
how confident she was in the final. It was the best match of her
life. Compared to how nervous I was in the French Open final,
she wasn't nervous at all. Serena was more nervous than she was."
Zvonareva seconded the motion. "It's really great because
everyone was talking about Russian tennis, but also how Russians
couldn't make it to the finals or win. It gives us more confidence
that we can do it." |
