It seems that sometimes not even the players themselves are sure of what is going on in their matches. As always, Sharapova’s serve was credited by reporters and Ivanovic, as being the main thing. Watching the match, I had the same opinion yet the stats tell a different story.

The telling difference was unforced errors.

Leave the clay to the real clay players;Henin, Kuznetsova…..Oh that would be a good final. If that were to happen, i pray that it’s better than 06′, and with Kuznetsova as the champ! :P

However, Matt Cronin from Tennis Reporters mentioned a few weeks ago the potential inclusion of some type of “emotional duress” clause, which could be a big enough loophole to keep the Williams sisters clear of a fine or suspension. If not, I would not be surprised if Richard Williams decided to sue the Tour on their behalf.

That was an emotional final for both women – for a second, I thought we might even see Sharapova tear up.

Will – I’m not convinced that we’ll see Sharapova win Roland Garros, but a Venus vs. Maria final for Wimbledon would be AWESOME! Plus, put a fitter Davenport on grass and we may see her go deep at a Slam.

Aares, will you do a Tennis-surfaces-for-idiots article on this sometime in the future :)

In the meantime, I felt a little sorry for Ana last night while the tears streamed from her face. I thought she was so close, but not there.

She couldnt have beatean Maria with that much power to her serve and return, but when you get one over Venus williams, only to lose @ d finals, that should be a ‘Viagraic’ pill to take you to the next level.

I m quite happy for her, and hope she ll get it back from Maria in due course.

Mentally, I don’t think Kutznetsova and Ivanovic will win a grandslam this year. They make way too many errors in big matches. If you ask me, they are one step behind Nadia Petrova when it comes to dealing with pressure. Justine is Maria’s only real threat on clay.

And what about Wimbledon? Maria is playing better than when she won it in 2004. Hopefully Maria will meet Venus in the final. That would be a dream final!

It’s so funny how everyone (or was it just me?)was saying Maria wasn’t living up to expectations before this tournament and now she is so close to having a career singles grand slam. Amazing!

It was no surprise that Maria won and she deserved it as she was the best player the whole fortnight. But I look forward to seeing how she handles the pressure at other tournaments. gee her father was well behaved I watch some of Maria’s matches to see what Yuri will get up to that was a major disappointment.

I believe Henin, Kuznetsova, or even Ivanovic might have something to say about that.

Sharapova will be the player to beat at the Pacific Life Open (especially with no Williams sisters and possibly not even Henin) and the Sony Ericsson Open. Her game is currently unbeatable on a hard court surface, but I’m not yet convinced that she can do a serious run on clay.