How impressed were you with the way you were striking the ball?

MARIA SHARAPOVA:
I was pretty happy because I kind of came from a slow court in Toronto to a pretty fast court here, which you always know going into the US Open, the Arthur Ashe Stadium is pretty quick. So it was all about adjustment.
I played a tricky opponent who doesn't give you much rhythm. It was just really important to stay on top of her and do the right things from the beginning. I thought I had a little bit of a slow start, but once I got going, I was able to do a good job of maintaining.

Maria Sharapova simply couldn't bear the thought of a U.S. Open taking place without her. So while sidelined with a torn shoulder a year ago, she refused to follow the tournament on TV.
Basically pretended it wasn't happening.

On Tuesday night, Sharapova was right where she likes to be: on the Grand Slam stage and in the spotlight. The 2006 U.S. Open champion returned to the tournament with an impressive 6-3, 6-0 victory over Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria.

"I was in the physical th...

Russian Maria Sharapova signaled she might be close to a return to top form by dismissing 10th seeded Nadia Petrova 6-3 6-4 in the first round of the $2 million Toronto Cup on Monday.

While her current ranking of 49th in the world suggests Sharapova provided a big upset, in reality it was a routine victory for the three-time grand slam winner as she improved her record against Petrova to 8-1.

Sharapova has made steady progress since returning to action in May after nine months on the sidel...

Due to my summer holiday I haven't been able to update you guys on the Los Angelos tournament. Maria reached the semi finals, which ofcourse is a great achievement!
Today the new rankings were released and Maria is now #49 with 1170 points. By reaching the semi's in LA she gained 200 points and 12 spots up the rankings. Maria is currently on spot #34 on the Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships rankings.
The next tournament Maria will attend is the Rogers Cup, in Toronto, starting next mo...

American Venus Williams crushed Russia's Maria Sharapova 6-2 6-2, while her younger sister Serena was upset by Australia's Samantha Stosur in the quarter-finals of the Stanford Classic on Saturday.

Seven-time grand slam champion Venus had not beaten Sharapova in three previous matches on hard courts, but on Saturday she was the more aggressive and accurate in the hard-hitting rallies while destroying the Russian's second serves.

Sharapova only hit 11 winners and committed 30 forced errors.

"She's a tremendous athlete and was probably 10 steps faster to the ball than I was," said Sharapova, who was playing her fifth tournament since returning from shoulder surgery.

"I should have taken the opportunities I had. That's something that comes along with playing and right now, it's not on autopilot for me."