Sports - Maria Sharapova #7: Because she`s reeking of talent and sex appeal! - Page 20

**Hot Rod** · 08-16-2008, 01:36 PM

Well it was a tough day in Beijing for our remaining hotties as Vera Z was defeated by compatriot Elena Dementieva 3-6, 6-7(3) in the singles semifinals, while the Bondarenko sisters were beaten by the Williams sisters 6-4, 4-6, 1-6. Tough losses for those three ladies, especially Alona and Kat.

The match was pretty even until the third set where Alona and Kat obviously had nothing left. It sucks that Vera, Alona and Kat won`t be able to go for the gold, however they still have a chance for the bronze medal tomorrow with Vera taking on hometown favorite Na Li and the Bondarenko sisters playing Jie Zheng and Zi Yan. Obviously these will be very tough matches for Vera, Alona and Kat going against the hometown favorites. Still this is a great opportunity for them to win a medal. After all you`ll never know if they`ll have an opportunity like this again. So hopefully they`ll play hard and give it their best tomorrow.

Meanwhile in Cincinnati, Makiri will take on Nadia Petrova in the semifinals later this evening. This will be the third meeting of the year between the ladies, with Makiri winning the previous matches in Berlin and Rome. Obviously this is a great opportunity for Makiri. Hopefully she`ll play hard and show some improvement from yesterday`s match.

Anyway here are some pics of our hotties teams in Beijing.

No pokies once again from Alona and Kat.

They need to bring it back for the US Open. Aside from it being very visually pleasing, it brought them a lot of great karma at the Australian Open.

The Daywalker · 08-16-2008, 02:53 PM

MMm, they are all so delicious, i don't know which team I like more

**Hot Rod** · 08-16-2008, 10:31 PM

I have the same dilemia too Chris. Still you can`t go wrong with either of them.

Anyway in Cincy earlier tonight, Makiri was sadly defeated by Nadia Petrova 6-1, 2-6, 1-6. What a disappointing performance from Makiri.

She hardly did anything right in the last two sets and missed out on a great opportunity in the third set, up triple break, down 1-2. So Makiri joins the semifinals and out club with Vera Z and the Bondarenko sisters. However she`s in the doubles finals tomorrow with Nadia Petrova, where they`ll take on Su-Wei Hsieh and Yaroslava Shvedova. This is a great opportunity for Makiri to win her second doubles title this year. Hopefully she can take full advantage of it later this afternoon.

Anyway here are some pics from Makiri`s match.

**Hot Rod** · 08-17-2008, 12:11 PM

Here`s a final update from Beijing.

First of all Vera Z defeated hometown favorite Na Li 6-0, 7-5 to win the bronze medal in women`s singles. What a great win for Vera.

She looked very sharp right from the start and really did a great job of closing out the match after a tough second set. This is a great achievement for Vera to win her first Olympic medal and be a part of Team Russia sweeping the medals in women`s singles. Meanwhile in the women`s doubles bronze medal match, the Bondarenko sisters were routed by Jie Zheng and Zi Yan 2-6, 2-6. What a disappointing performance from Alona and Kat.

It looks like that they weren`t really into the match. It sucks that they didn`t get a medal, but on the positive sit, they made a nice run in their first tournament back together. So this is something for them to build on with the US Open around the corner. Overall i thought that the Olympics for our hotties was alright. While it was nice to see Vera and the Bondarenko sisters make nice runs to the final day, the Olympics had a huge void without Masha and Ana and wasn`t that much fun to watch IMO. Still i think that it was a good opportunity for the ladies to play for their countries and get ready for the US Open.

Meanwhile in Cincinnati, the doubles final is about to begin. I really hope that Makiri can get her second doubles title of the year. It would be nice to see her and Nadia Petrova make it a perfect day for Team Russia.

Anyway here are a couple of pics from Vera`s match along with a pic from the medal awards ceremony and a pic of Masha`s new Canon ad.

Masha looks very lovely in the ad with Dolce.

Team Russia FTW!

**Hot Rod** · 08-17-2008, 03:09 PM

It`s a clean sweep for Team Russia today as Makiri and Nadia Petrova won the doubles title in Cincinnati with a 6-3, 4-6, 10-8 victory over Su-Wei Hsieh and Yaroslava Shvedova. What a great win by the ladies in winning the doubles title.

They made a nice comeback from down 6-8 in the super tiebreaker. I`m very happy for Makiri that she won her second doubles title of the year. This is a nice way to build some good momentium heading into the US Open.

Later tonight i`ll have the singles and doubles draw for the last warmup tournament before the US Open, which is the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in New Haven.

**Hot Rod** · 08-17-2008, 06:57 PM

With the Olympics now over with, it`s time to move on to the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in New Haven. Here is the singles draw:

CHAKVETADZE, Anna RUS [1]
BYE

DELLACQUA, Casey AUS
RAZZANO, Virginie FRA

QUALIFIER
CIRSTEA, Sorana ROU

DULKO, Gisela ARG
PENNETTA, Flavia ITA[6]

A. SZAVAY [4]
BYE

QUALIFIER
QUALIFIER

KANEPI, Kaia EST
MAURESMO, Amelie FRA

CRAYBAS, Jill USA
SCHNYDER, Patty SUI [5]

CIBULKOVA, Dominika SVK [8]
WOZNIACKI, Caroline DEN

KIRILENKO, Maria RUS
QUALIFIER

MATTEK, Bethanie USA
PIRONKOVA, Tsvetana BUL

BYE
BARTOLI, Marion FRA [3]

CORNET, Alize FRA [7]
VAIDISOVA, Nicole CZE

QUALIFIER
SREBOTNIK, Katarina SLO

GOVORTSOVA, Olga BLR
KLEYBANOVA, Alisa RUS

BYE
HANTUCHOVA, Daniela SVK [2]

Judging from what i see, the tournament looks pretty wide open with no real favorite due to the inconsistancy of the main stars like Anna and Dani. Still this is a great opportunity for those two and the other hotties to go on a nice run and build some positive momentium toward the US Open, which is around the corner. Anna has the most favorable looking draw out of the hotties. She`s certainly capable of beating any of the players in her section, but lately she has been losing to some players that she`s suppose to beat. On the lower half of the draw, Dani has a very tough looking section with some of the players there with Nikki, Alisa Kleybanova and Olga Govortsova having beaten her this year. Still i think that Dani is very capable of going on a nice run if she can rediscover the good form from the start of the year. I really hope that some of our favorite hotties will do well in New Haven this year. Like i`ve said earlier, it would be nice to see them build some positive momentium with nice runs heading into the US Open, especially Anna.

Also here`s the doubles draw in New Haven:

BLACK, Cara ZIM
1 HUBER, Liezel USA
VS
DEKMEIJERE, Liga LAT
2 SCHNYDER, Patty SUI

CIRSTEA, Sorana ROU
3 NICULESCU, Monica ROU
VS
JANS, Klaudia POL
4 ROSOLSKA, Alicja POL

DECHY, Nathalie FRA
5 DELLACQUA, Casey AUS
VS
KOSTANIC TOSIC, Jelena CRO
6 KUSTOVA, Darya BLR

UHLIROVA, Vladimira CZE
7 ZAHLAVOVA STRYCOVA, Barbora CZE
VS
KING, Vania USA
8 KUDRYAVTSEVA, Alla RUS

DAVENPORT, Lindsay USA
9 HANTUCHOVA, Daniela SVK
VS
CRAYBAS, Jill USA
10 GOVORTSOVA, Olga BLR

RODIONOVA, Anastasia RUS
11 VOSKOBOEVA, Galina RUS
VS
HUSAROVA, Janette SVK
12 MATTEK, Bethanie USA

KIRILENKO, Maria RUS
13 PENNETTA, Flavia ITA
VS
CECIL, Mallory USA
14 STEPHENSON, Robin USA

LLAGOSTERA VIVES, Nuria ESP
15 MARTINEZ SANCHEZ, Maria Jose ESP
VS
PESCHKE, Kveta CZE
16 RAYMOND, Lisa USA

First of all i`m very happy to see Flavia and Makiri teaming up again. Hopefully they can pick up where they left off of in Montreal and go on another nice run. Also Dani will team up again with fellow veteran Lindsay Davenport. They have a lot of potential given that they are both pretty good in doubles. However they can go on a nice run. It would be nice to see Dani get in some extra time on the court to make up for her absence during the clay court season.

So that`s the story with the singles and doubles draws. Action gets underway tomorrow with a couple of all hotties first round matches. The first one will be a matchup between two of the cutest rising star as Caroline will take on Domi. This looks like a very intriguing match. I think that Caroline has a very slight edge with her coming in with a lot of confidence recently winning her first career title. However we can never count out the always tough and scrappy Domi. Later in the evening, the second all hotties match will be between Alize and Nikki. This will be their second meeting in less than a week, with Alize winning the previous meeting in the first round match in Beijing a few days ago. Alize is the obvious favorite in this match, however Nikki did play well for a set in their match. I really hope that both matches will be well played and very competitive. Of course i must say that i hate that those four ladies are playing each other this early in the tournament.

BTW in honor of her winning the bronze medal in Beijing, Vera Z now has a profile on the second OP, which i did earlier this evening.

**Hot Rod** · 08-19-2008, 10:33 AM

Here`s the first update from New Haven.

Yesterday we had a couple of all hotties matches. In the first match between Caroline and Domi, Caroline won the first set 7-6(7). Then Domi retired due to illness. While i`m happy that Caroline won

, i`m also sad for Domi that she had to retire.

Hopefully she`ll take on time off before the US Open.

Later that evening in the second match, Alize defeated Nikki for the second time in a week 6-3, 7-6(8). Good win there for Alize.

It`s nice to see her continuing her solid play. As for Nikki, another disappointing loss.

She made a nice comeback from down 3-6 in the tiebreaker to win the next four points and had a chance to win the set, but unfortunately couldn`t convert it, which has been a theme for her this year.

Also we had a couple of matches ended this afternoon.

In the first match, Flavia routed Gisela Dulko 6-3, 6-1. Very good win by Flavia.

I`m very pleased with how sharp she looked throughout the match. Unfortunately it was bad news for our partner in crime Makiri, as she was just upset by Monica Niculescu 7-6(7), 2-6, 1-6. What a disappointing loss for Makiri.

It looked like she didn`t have much left after the first set. This is not how she wants to head into the US Open.

So that`s the story with yesterday and the early matches in New Haven. Later today Dani will play her first round doubles match with Lindsay Davenport, while Flavia and Makiri will also play their first round match. Hopefully they can get off to good starts.

Anyway here are some pics from yesterday`s matches

Nice tongue action from Nikki, who goes well with her nice new outfit.

I hope Alize will get a much better looking outfit for the US Open, because i don`t like the one she wore last night.

**Hot Rod** · 08-20-2008, 02:50 PM

Here`s the latest from New Haven.

First of all Anna made her return to the court for the first time in over a couple of weeks earlier today with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Casey Dellacqua. Good win for Anna. This is nice way for her to return after a much needed break.

Also Caroline continued her winning ways with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Monica Niculescu. Nice solid performance from Caroline.

Unfortunately it wasn`t all good news today as Flavia was upset by Sorana Cirstea 6-3, 4-6, 3-6. What a disappointing performance from Flavia.

Much like Makiri`s match yesterday, she didn`t seem to have an answer in the final two sets. If that wasn`t bad enough, then she and Makiri were routed by Kveta Peschke and Lisa Raymond 2-6, 2-6 in their second round doubles match. This result was more expected, but still it`s sad that Flavia and Makiri`s time in New Haven is already over with.

Hopefully they can work on fine tuning their games before the US Open.

So that`s the story on the afternoon matches in New Haven. Alize is currently playing Katarine Srebotnik and is up 3-2. Hopefully Alize can get it going against the dangerous Srebotnik. Also Dani will make her return later this evening with her second round match against Olga Govortsova. Hopefully Dani can get off to a good start and get some payback against Govortsova.

I forgot to mention that there`s always the much smaller tournament going on in Forest Hills, where yesterday in an all hotties matchup, Iveta defeated Elena 6-1, 6-7(5), 7-5. That must`ve been a pretty good match, especially in the last two sets. It`s type of match where you wish that both Iveta and Elena could win. Regardless it was a good win for Iveta.

As for Elena, i hate that she had to have a tough loss like this.

Hopefully she can bounce back at the US Open.

Anyway here are a couple of pics from Anna`s match along with a new pic of Iveta in a magazine and a practice pic of Dani in New Haven.

It`s nice to see Iveta get to do a nice shoot like this. She looks very good in this pic.

Hopefully we`ll get to see her do a future shoot with her Team Czechoslovakia teammates Dani, Nikki and Domi soon.

http://i36.tinypic.com/29fcnir.jpg
I had to post the link of this pic since it was pretty big. However i think that y`all will enjoy it.

**Hot Rod** · 08-20-2008, 11:09 PM

Here`s an update on the late matches in New Haven.

First of all Alize defeated Katarine Srebotnik 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-2. Then Dani rallied to beat Olga Govortsova 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(4). Good wins by both ladies, especially Dani.

I`m really proud of the way she fought back in the last part of the match where she saved three match points and then came back from down 2-4 in the tiebreaker to win the last five games of the match. This is the type of match that Dani has been losing a lot of lately. So it`s great to see her finally win a match like this.

Hopefully this will give Dani a nice confidence boost.

So in all it was a good day in New Haven. While it was great to see Anna and Dani return with wins, it`s sad that Flavia and Makiri are already out of the tournament.

Later today will be the quarterfinals. The headline match of the day will be another all hotties matchup, which will be between Alize and Dani. This will be their second meeting of the year, with Dani winning the first one at the second round of the Australian Open 6-2, 7-5. Hopefully we`ll get a pretty good match between the ladies, which will be seen on ESPN 2 at 12 noon CST. Also Anna will take on Sorana Cirstea and then Caroline will face Marion Bartoli. Hopefully those cuties can keep up their good play later today.

Anyway here are some pics from Dani`s match.

What a lovely sight.

Good job Dani.

The Daywalker · 08-21-2008, 04:39 AM

awesome for one of our girls to put up a major fight in the last set and pull out a victory.

It's great to see Dani with that winning smile again.

The Daywalker · 08-21-2008, 02:06 PM

Wow, I can't believe Cat got beat by the Japanese team...

**Hot Rod** · 08-21-2008, 02:14 PM

Here`s an update on today`s matches.

First of all in New Haven, we got another all hotties matchup, which was between Alize and Dani. The match went the full three sets with Alize winning it 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Good win for Alize.

She came back strong after the first set and then after an injury timeout late in the second set. As for Dani, it`s another disappointing result for her.

She had a golden opportunity late in the match when she came back from down 1-4 to tie it up at 4 all. Then when she was down 4-5, her forehand looked terrible and she was broken in the last game to end the match. So while Alize survives and advances, it`s another tough loss for Dani.

In the other matches, Anna defeated Sorana Cirstea 6-3, 6-3 and Caroline routed Marion Bartoli 6-4, 6-0. Very good wins by both ladies.

I`m very pleased with how well Anna and Caroline played. Plus i must add that it`s nice to see Caroline serve up a bagel.

Meanwhile in Forest Hills, Iveta continues her good run with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over Ekaterina Makarova. Good win for Iveta.

It`s nice to see her on a little run, especially before the US Open.

So in all it was a pretty good day for our remaining hotties. Tomorrow will be the semifinals. In New Haven, we`ll have another all hotties matchup, this time it will be between Alize and Caroline. This looks like quite an intriguing match between two of tennis` cutest stars. Also Anna will take on either Agnes Szavay or Amelie Mauresmo. Meanwhile in Forest Hills, Iveta will take on either Jamea Jackson or her teammate on the Czech Fed Cup team, Lucie Safarova. This is a great opportunity for Iveta. Hopefully she can take full advantage of it.

Also some sad news from Beijing. The US softball team was defeated by Japan in the gold medal game. Cat started the game and gave up two earned runs, including a home run. What a tough loss for Cat and company. It was so tough to see them after the game was over.

I want to give Cat a hug right now.

What makes this loss so tough is that this will likely be Cat`s only Olympic with softball not going to be played at the next Olympic in London in 2012.

I wanted so badly to see her lead Team USA to the gold, but sadly they have to settle for the silver.

Anyway here are some pics from today`s matches in New Haven.

I`m very pleased to see Caroline wearing the fingernail polish during her match again.

Nice of Alize to give us a peek at her belly.

This pic doesn`t show it, but Dani really had some nice pokies going during today`s matches, which were very nice to watch.

**Hot Rod** · 08-21-2008, 08:49 PM

Here`s the last update of the day. Anna will be playing Amelie Mauresmo in the semifinals in New Haven tomorrow night, while Alize and Caroline will play each other in the other semifinal match tomorrow afternoon, which will be seen on ESPN 2 at 11 AM cst as well the evening match at 7 PM cst. It`s great that Alize and Caroline`s match will be on ESPN 2 tomorrow. It is a great chance for everyone here in the states to get to see tennis` rising stars and to be overwhelmed by a lot of cuteness from them. Meanwhile in Forest Hills, Iveta will take on her teammate on Team Czechoslovakia, Lucie Safarova in the semifinals. Obviously both ladies know each other very well, having played together on the Czech Fed Cup for a while. Hopefully Iveta can full advantage of her opportunity.

Anyway here are some pics of Masha at some sort of gathering for Canon along with some pics of Jelena practicing at Flushing Meadows.

It`s great to see Masha back out and about again. She looks very lovely.

I love Jelena`s practice outfit,

which showcases her hot body.

I definitely enjoy this view.

**Hot Rod** · 08-22-2008, 03:17 PM

Here`s an update on this afternoon`s matches.

First of all in the latest all hotties matchup in New Haven, Caroline defeated Alize 7-5, 6-4. Another good win for Caroline.

She looked pretty sharp for much of the match and did a good job of using the court. As for Alize, tough loss for her.

She got off to a good start in the second set, going up 3-0, but unfortunately couldn`t hold the lead due to her committing a lot of unforced errors. Plus it looked like she ran out of gas late in the match. Still it was nice to see a nice competitive match between two of the cutest rising stars in the WTA.

Meanwhile in Forest Hills, Iveta`s run sadly came to an end as she was defeated by her buddy Lucie Safarova 2-6, 4-6. Sad that Iveta couldn`t get to the finals.

Still it`s nice to see her get a couple of wins, which will give her some positive momentium heading into the US Open.

So that`s the story with the afternoon matches. Later in less than an hour Anna will take on Amelie Mauresmo in the second semifinal match. This will be the second meeting of the year between the ladies, with Anna winning the previous one in Paris. I think that this could be a tough match for Anna with Amelie having a revival this week. Still if she can play a nice solid match, then i like Anna`s chances of winning. So hopefully she can come through for us and give us another all hotties final.

Anyway here are some pics from today`s match along with some pics of Masha at the Nike Sportswear at 21 Mercer block party opening last night.

Good job Caroline.

What a lovely sight.

Hopefully this will be the start of a very lovely rivalry.

**Hot Rod** · 08-22-2008, 06:23 PM

Well Anna came through for us earlier tonight by beating Amelie Mauresmo 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Good win for Anna.

The match wasn`t exactly the best played match, especially with all of the unforced errors by Anna, but she did a good job keeping it together and playing well enough to get the win.

So it will be Anna vs. Caroline in the finals tomorrow.

This will be the 7th all hotties final of the year and the first one since Estroil where Makiri defeated Iveta. I really hope that we`ll get a nicely played competitive match between Anna and Caroline in their first meeting tomorrow.

Anyway here are a couple of pics from Anna`s match.

It`s great to see Anna showing her feistiness again.

BTW which suggestion should we go with as the title of the next thread?

Maria Sharapova #8: B/C the tour isn`t the same without the Siberian Goddess!

or

Maria Sharapova #8: Because soon she`ll be back in action and stronger than ever!