Maria Sharapova regained the world number one position in women's tennis. Maria leads the standings on 4,182 points, just 159 ahead of Serbian Ana Ivanovic. Sharapova, topped the prestigious ranking list two and a half years ago.
WTA top 10 as of May 19 (previous ranking in brackets): 1. (2)Maria Sharapova, Russia, 4,181 2. (3) Ana Ivanovic, Serbia, 3,922 3. (4) Jelena Jankovic, Serbia, 3,755 4. (5) Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia, 3,3655. (6) Serena Williams (USA) 2,8366. (8) Anna Chakvetadze, Russia, 2,7317. (7) Elena Dementieva 2,6308. (9) Venus Williams, United States, 2,6269. (11) Marion Bartoli (France) 2,17810.(10) Daniela Hantuchova, Slovakia, 2,122.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Monday, May 5, 2008
Maria in a Battle
Maria Sharapova could end up being fined close to a million dollars for two separate issues relating to tournaments this week and next, and that is serious money even for the world's highest-earning sportswoman.
The 21-year-old Siberian has already been docked $125,000 by the WTA Tour after withdrawing from the Berlin tournament last week, with the possibility of a further $10,000 penalty if she does not provide a medical reason for her no-show. And she could face a fine of up to $700,000 if she decides to boycott the WTA Tour's official promotional shoot that has been controversially planned to take place on the eve of next week's event here on the clay of Rome's Foro Italico. So, in the space of a fortnight, there is a chance that her fines could total $835,000, or £420,000.
The maximum fine for skipping promotional work is usually $300,000, but that increases to $700,000 for players such as Sharapova who do not wear a tour patch on their clothes. "To ask me or any of the other players to do a long shoot like this is not right," Sharapova said. ''The tour is not thinking about the players."
Even if Maria does attend the shoot, it is understood that she has not ruled out the possibility of taking legal action against the WTA Tour.
Andrew Walker, a spokesman for the WTA Tour, said. "We will be as flexible as possible to accommodate all the player schedules, but we are not making exceptions.
The 21-year-old Siberian has already been docked $125,000 by the WTA Tour after withdrawing from the Berlin tournament last week, with the possibility of a further $10,000 penalty if she does not provide a medical reason for her no-show. And she could face a fine of up to $700,000 if she decides to boycott the WTA Tour's official promotional shoot that has been controversially planned to take place on the eve of next week's event here on the clay of Rome's Foro Italico. So, in the space of a fortnight, there is a chance that her fines could total $835,000, or £420,000.
The maximum fine for skipping promotional work is usually $300,000, but that increases to $700,000 for players such as Sharapova who do not wear a tour patch on their clothes. "To ask me or any of the other players to do a long shoot like this is not right," Sharapova said. ''The tour is not thinking about the players."
Even if Maria does attend the shoot, it is understood that she has not ruled out the possibility of taking legal action against the WTA Tour.
Andrew Walker, a spokesman for the WTA Tour, said. "We will be as flexible as possible to accommodate all the player schedules, but we are not making exceptions.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Maria unhappy over photo shoot ahead of tournament
Maria Sharapova is criticizing the WTA Tour for threatening to fine her more than $300,000 if she doesn't take part in a promotional photo session ahead of the Italian Open in Rome on May 12. "They want me to do this shoot on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday of the Internazionali BNL Italia tourney after flying 12 hours from L.A.," Maria said in a statement posted on Friday."I have set my own personal rules when it comes to doing shoots and I never do shoots before tournaments because they are mentally draining and I want to just focus on my tennis. "In an e-mail, the WTA Tour said players have off-court responsibilities."Players have many obligations both on and off the court, and what is being asked of players in Rome is in the rules," the tour said.Sharapova said she was not against promoting the tour and that her objection was to the schedule."To be honest, I would love to do this and help promote the tour as much as possible," she said. "But to force me to do this shoot the day before a Tier I tournament is just not right."
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