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She says she wants to play Fed Cup for Russia, represent Russia in the Olympics, meet premier Vladimir Putin and, to top it off, says she loves to watch football – Russian football (whatever that is), not American. So, the 18-year-old has now, briefly, laid to rest any thoughts that she might play Fed Cup for the United States, a country that she has lived in for the past 11 years. "I want to play for Russia, I definitely want to play for Russia in Fed Cup competition," she said at the Kremlin Cup. "I just don't know when I'll be ready to make my Fed Cup debut." That's not exactly a blood oath. In fact, it sounds like she still wavering, especially when it would have been easy for her to commit to the April tie against Belguim, which is the least busy time of year for the players. Why all this angst over whether Sharapova will commit to her native land? Possibly because some members of the US press (this web site, specifically) have suggested that Sharapova might prefer to play for her adopted nation. Yuri Sharapov went somewhat ballistic reacting to that speculation last week and Maria was probably told to back up his comments of undying loyalty. what is reality and what is spin? Reality likely dictates that Sharapova will play for Russia, because she's defending her family's honor. But, will she ever move back to Russia and take up residence? That's highly doubtful. Does she really want to play Fed Cup for Russia as an ex-patriot, especially when she does not get along with the veteran members off the team? That's doubtful, too. No, in a world where others aren't controlling the decision-making and she is allowed free choice with no dire consequences, the educated guess here is that she would choose to play for the US because she is more much comfortable in American culture than she is in Russian culture. That's not a bad thing for either nation, just a standard consequence of spending most of her conscious years here. If, for example, Richard Williams had decided to train his girls in Moscow rather than in Florida, there would be questions as to where they want to settle down, too. Maria (and Yuri) have chosen to live in the US (in Florida and California) when at any time during the past two years, they could pick up their bags and moved back to Moscow. The same goes for Miami's Anna Kournikova, Barcelona's Svetlana Kuznetsova or Amsterdam's Nadia Petrova. So, if Maria is so committed to playing for Putin, why doesn't she buy an apartment in Moscow and train there? Elena Dementieva and Anastasia Myskina have found ways to do it and so could she. "I definitely feel Russian inside; even when I'm in America I feel Russian," she said. "But coming here for the first time in years it made me feel even more so." Sounds alike like Kournikova in her heyday, an alleged "red-flag-all-the-way girl" who never moved back. How is Maria going to feel when she goes back to LA next month? Like putting her Laker's jersey back on, that's what. Ljubicic, Moodie, Vaidisova, Krajicek take trophies Lindsay Davenport has usually had success in LA and at many indoor tournaments and, in Filderstadt, won her 50th career Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title over Amelie Mauresmo 6-2, 6-4. With the win, Davenport is just 149 points behind No. 1 Sharapova for the top spot. "This has been a really great week for me," said Davenport. "I've been able to play at a high level and keep it up, very much the same as last year here. I was really fired up to play well and I'm glad I did that. … I am really excited to win 50 titles. That means a lot to me as not many players have won that. I was thinking about it after I won Bali and was glad to be able to do it here right off the bat." Czech teen Nicole Vaidisova won her second consecutive crown, winning Tokyo when Tatiana Golovin was forced to retire with a left Achilles tendon injury in the final down 7-6(4), 3-2. "I thought it was a good match," said Vaidisova of Sunday's final. "I hope that I would have won anyway, and I think I could have closed it out, but those are just 'maybes.' I thought she was moving really well and got to a lot of balls. I hope that we'll meet again in a final." Vaidisova broke into the Top 20 for the first time and now owns four singles titles. "I'm definitely happy," said Vaidisova. "I think I've been playing more steadily this year. Last year, I would have a good week, then a bad one, but I think this year, I've improved my consistency. I know there is a lot to improve, but I'm happy with my progress so far."
Amanmuradova came out of nowhere to reach the final and appears to have to height and power to go far. But, she was very upset by her performance. "It's the worst thing to lose in a final. I'd much rather lose in an earlier round. The way I played, I was not confident at all. When I hit the ball, I didn't know if it would go in or out." It took five tries in 2005, but Ivan Ljubicic won his second career title when he defeated French teenager Gael Monfils 7-6(7), 6-0 in the final of the Open de Moselle. Ljubicic defeated Jose Acasuso, Fabrice Santoro, Robin Soderling, Nikolay Davydenko and Monfils and became the first non-French winner to claim the Open de Moselle. "I served unbelievably well this entire week, I even tried to push it a little harder sometimes on the second serves and it was working really well," said Ljubicic, who has an outside shot at the ATP Championships. "It feels great to win a title here. I played in five finals this year but I feel really great here in France. I won in Lyon in 2001, reached the final in Marseille this year. There are a few more tournaments to come in France and hopefully I can do good there." Given what a fine serve-and-volleyer he is when he is on his game, it's surprising it took South Africa's Wesley Moodie so long to win his first crown but he put it together mentally in Tokyo and saved two match points to beat Mario Ancic 1-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4. Moodie faced his first match point while serving at 5-6 in the breaker, but Ancic missed a lob. The South African fought off another at 6-7 with a running forehand pass. The 26-year-old Moodie joined Ancic as one of eight first-time ATP title winners this year. "I feel great, especially after losing the first so easy. I felt I was going to get beat when I was down a set and a break. But somehow I got into a third set, and picked up my standard of tennis." With Lleyton Hewitt injured again and Mariano Puerta in deep trouble due to doping charges, Gaston Gaudio looks like a good bet to qualify for Shanghai. Speaking of qualifying or nor, as reported here in the past few weeks, Serena Williams finally made it official and kissed off the rest of the season due to her knee injury. After a spectacular run to Aussie Open crown, Serena saw nothing but on-court misery the rest of the year and will end the year with a 21-7 record and only one title, which would have seemed a near impossibility back in January. But, to all you naysayers who believe that she'll never win another Slam … please don't go there, you said the same about Venus prior to Wimbledon. BTW 1: Venus pulled out of Moscow with a knee injury. BTW 2: Dementieva is a very good bet to take the final spot at Championships. Former tour backboard Peanut Louie and her husband, Tim Harper, play tournament directors this week at a women's Challenger in San Francisco. |
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