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Kremlin Cup
AIG JAPAN OPEN:
Sept 29th-Oct 4th
Keep Your Fingers Crossed!!!!
Maria stays
in the Far East this week for
the Japan Open. After a week
off and a decent performance
at Shanghai (it was unlikely
that she would have beaten
Dementieva the way both she is
playing at the moment), Maria
has got a decent chance this
week of reaching the weekend
and still being competitive. A
great deal of the top names
are in Moscow for the Kremlin
Cup, but nonetheless, this
week represents a big chance
for Maria to get plenty of
points, and maybe, just maybe
dare we say it, her first
title!!!!!!!!
Yet again,
i have to apologise. Regular
readers of these articles will
know by now that websites for
the tournaments are
notoriously bad. Limited
information, which is
occasionally in a language i
have never even seen before,
measn that the first part of
many of these articles are
about simply what i can scrape
together from the website. As
always, the link is available
on the message board, and so
if there is something you want
to know about then check it
out there.
So what do
we know about the event?? The
first clue we can take from
thename is that it is likely
to be held in Japan. I can say
that to you with almost 100%
certainty!!!!I know this as it
is organised by the Japanese
Tennis Association, and is
being held on the hardcourt
surface found in Ariake
Coliseum and Ariake Tennis
Forest Park. It doesnt mean
much to me, but hopefully if
you live in Japan, it might be
just down the road, so go and
give Maria some support!!!!
Prize money for the womens
event totals $170,000, which
is a good little package for a
weeks work. Sponsored by AIG
Star Life Insurance, as well
as AIU Insurance and the
American International Group
(who i think are all pretty
much the same company, but i
dont really know), the event
even has its own official
hotel. So if you are one of
the lucky ones to live near
the event, why not pop into
the Meridien Grand Pacific
Hotel for the night!
And so to
more important matters.....
The Draw
For the
first time that i can
remember, i can write a little
piece on how Maria did here
last year. She did indeed
appear at the event last year,
one of her first senior
appearances. She received a
wild card, and was drawn
against the number four seed
Emmanuelle Gagliardi, to whom
she lost in three sets. That
being the case, Maria finds
herself in the unusual
position of defending some
ranking points this week.
Although by being in the main
draw already she has
successfully defended
them!!!!Even so, it is an
acheivement. Well maybe it is.
Had you have said last year
that she would not need to
qualify due to her world
ranking, few would have
agreed. So that is an
acheivement i guess.
Japan Open Draw
The identity of her first round opponent is unclear, in that she will face a qualifier. Again, notorious for their electrifying speed at which sites are updated, the site has no information available, and at this time the draw is still apparently under construction. However, with the highest ranked player set for the qualifiers being Maria Elena Camerin at number 96, i think Maria would be confident of overcoming her first hurdle. Waiting in the next round is likely to be Japanese player Akiko Morigami. With home support behind her, the world number 64 may cause Maria small problem. Indeed, she reached the semis in her last tournament, also Shanghai, where she was put out by the in form Chanda Rubin. I think though, that despite that performance, and the partisan crowd, Maria will have enough to see her opponent off. Such is Maria's popularity on the rise that some Japanese watching the event may even be supporting Maria. And so in the Quarters, her opponent should be world number 36 Katarina Srebotnik. She suffered a first round defeat in last weeks event at Leipzig to 6th seed Nadia Petrova, and has not enjoyed an enjoyable run of form, having lost in the second round of the US Open, her last event before last week. There is every chance that she will be rusty having played so few games, and im confident that Maria's support will grow and grow as the week progresses, perhaps until we see something to the extent of Birmingham where she went on an offensive knocking out three seeds. And i would not be surprised to see such a thing happen here. This being the case, i think Maria can win and go onto the semis, where her likely opponent will be Tamarine Tanasugarn. The world number 30 should reach the semis, the only possible resistance coming from Ashley Harkleroad in the quarters. She too has only played one event following the US Open, although she faired a little better, reaching the quarters in Bali before losing to eventual winner Dementieva. She also disposed of two seeds at the US Open before losing in the 4th round, and will represnet a step up for Maria from her previous matches this week. The match will be tight, as the crowd will be torn between travelling Thai fans and newly found supporters of Maria, and the result will be close. But i have faith. I am confident in her abilities and i see her pulling through and reaching her first senior final. In which she will almost certainy face home favourite and First seed Ai Sugiyama. It is really unlikely that the crowd will be with Maria in this match, such is the faith in Sugiyama in Japan, and it will take a great effort to gain victory. However, boosted by the results she will have had should she reach this far, she has a fighting chance, and only time will tell. She certainly has the game to win if she plays to her full ability. Its whether she can reach that full ability and defeat both the crowd and her opponent which will determine the success of Maria's week.
1st Round: Maria def Q. Ualifier (!) in straights 2nd Round: Maria def Morigami in straights Quarters: Maria def Srebotnik in straights Semis: Maria def Tanasugarn in three Final: Maria def Sugiyama in three Visit the Maria Sharapova page here
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