Maria Sharapova Poised to Complete Career Grand Slam

A Sharapova Career Slam would be an amazing feat, and I'd love her to accomplish it, but to suggest Marian Sharapova is poised to win the French Open this year is simply foolish. Jelena Jankovic plays with more consistency on clay and moves better on the surface. Sveta Kuznetsova is a better clay court player, too, and she's beaten Maria this year on hard court... And then there is Serena Williams.

True on all counts, though Maria is playing the best tennis on clay of her career right now. Though it is doubtful that she does pull it off, she has a better chance than she has ever had.

Well, Tennis Channel and especially ESPN are really playing up the "Career Grand Slam" angle, and now that Serena is out, who knows??? I still think Maria will lose to Kuznetsova, but hey, what if the Kooz is upset? Ivanovic is hitting the ball really, really well, and she did beat Maria - easily - at the French Open last year. Hmmmm....

Maria sure has made it interesting. I would be surprised if she is able to do is, since she has yet to have an easy match.

We should also remember, too, that often in Slams, once a player gets to the second week, they improve, sometimes substantially. So, who knows? Maybe her scratchy play now is the mental toughness part, and next week her tennis will click into gear... If Maria does end up winning this, it would be her most impressive Slam title: to go through another tough Russian (Kooz and Dementieva are tough on clay) and then a Serbian... Would be quite a feat!

Sharapova won a set today 6-0. Hmmmm

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080531/ap_on_sp_te_ga_su/ten_french_open

Maybe she has finally hit her stride and will make her way to the final. I'm sure that she is glad not to have gone 3 sets and to have won the last set 6-0.

http://www.yardbarker.com/tennis/articles/Sharapova_Ousted_from_French_Open/273304