For the second year in a row, former No. 1 Maria Sharapova was eliminated at Wimbledon in the second round.  The 22-year-old Russian star won the tournament in 2004 but hasn’t been able to recapture that magic since.

Indeed, Day 3 was unkind to Sharapova who was eliminated by Argentina’s Gisela Dulko 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 on Centre Court in 2 hours, 13 minutes.  I’m sure Sharapova is beyond disappointed and frustrated with her performances recently (she’s lost three of her last five matches) but she was out with a shoulder injury for 10 months.  Maybe she just needs a little more time.

Meanwhile, former Wimbledon champ (2002 and 2003 and was runner-up to Sharapova’s 2004 victory), Serena Williams, sailed to an easy victory after punishing Australia’s Jarmila Groth 6-2, 6-1 in 58 minutes on Court 1 at the All England Club.  At least it was over quickly!

Some of the other results from the third day include Belarussian Victoria Azarenka’s 6-0, 6-0 victory over Romanian Ioana Raluca Olaru.

image: Zuma Press

Maria Sharapova has exited the $220,000 Aegon Classic before having a chance to capture her first title of 2009.  The former No. 1 was eliminated after dropping straight sets to fourth-seeded Li Na on the grass-court of the pre-Wimbledon event.  Li won with 6-4, 6-4 in just under 1 hour, 30 minutes.

image: Zuma Press

Sharapova has had a hard time with her most recent title occurring more than a year ago at the 2008 Bausch & Lomb Championships in Florida.

With the semifinals behind her, Li will now go on to face Magdalena Rybarikova in tomorrow’s finals.  Rybarikova advanced by defeating Sania Mirza 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 in 1 hour and 34 minutes.

Li is hoping to celebrate her third career title while Rybarikova is hoping to capture her first. The winner will receive $37,000.

So the Australian Open finished off with the results I had predicted in this post. Masha, aka, Maria Sharapova sailed through to the trophy. As I said, nobody in the tournament weiled the kind of power she did, and on the men’s side, Djoker, aka, Novak Djokovic, got the better of suprise finalist Tsonga. We had been pretty much hooked to the tournament, so much so that we missed out on a lot of cricket. With the Commenwealth Bank Series on, we’re back to bats and balls. Read more

eat Tennis, drink Tennis, sleep Tennis

I have a secret to share. I have been following the tennis over this week. And not cricket. Don’t worry. Cricket is still my first love.

Anyway, Roger lost. That happens every once in a while, but it usually doesn’t in a Grand Slam. Djoker got the better of him. Good for him. He’s in his prime, and there’s a peak time in every sportsman’s career, however mediocre he may be, when they knock off the greats even. I’m not writing off Djoker, but I still believe he’s no threat to the King. King is slightly out of the zone, I suppose. He’s had to fight his way through the Open, rather than breeze along, which is customary of him. But  it’s good to see new kids take away trophies every once in a while. Kind of keeps the game from getting too predictable.

Djoker meets Tsonga, a young Frenchman, the surprise package of this tournament. Tsonga hits hard, and I’m amused by his motivation. On the ladies front, Sharapova will claim her third Grand Slam on Saturday. When I saw her against Henin, there was absolutely no doubt in my mind who’s going to claim the title. Tell you what, this kind of speed and power comes only after weeks of sweating exactly before a big tournament. This is a totally different Maria from the 2007 US Open.

On to cricket and Sachin: It’s a delight to see another one of my heroes taking the reins this time. Didn’t watch him, but compels me to say again: Old is gold.