I know that when she returns it will take her a few matches or maybe tournaments to relly get her groove going again

Dont expect her to b amazing in the first match cause she wont

This was a serious injury and Sharapova knew this and we knew this by the surgery she undertook nd she need i think a good 8 months to recover so im not shocked

Il b shocked if Maria returns at Roland Garros 2009 because i really dont think maria wants to play on clay I think she wants to return on grass as it is more smoother and easier for MaRIa
Thanks

If she is fit! That is the big unknown. Besides the Williams sisters, she is in my view the only other really major player. A player with the physical presence, gifted ability, and gutsy character.

I don’t much rate any of the newbies as a grand slam threat in the forseeable future except Azarenka. In my view an orderly top 5 (in no particular order) is both Williams sisters, Maria, Azarenka, and Marion.

Let’s be clear. Serena owns Maria. Her only real victory over her was at the 2004 Wimbledon final (albeit a career defining moment). Although Maria did beat Serena at the YEC 2004, everyone seems to fcrget the Serena suffered a stomach injury close to the end of the 2nd set. So much so, that Serena was serving ALL of her serves in the 60 – 70 mph range for the entire 3rd set. And she still got up 4 – 0 on Maria. During Maria’s loss to Serena at Charleston 2008, coach at the time, Michael Joyce, was extolling her to not worry about what Serena was doing and to get her out of her head. To me that was telling. BTW Maria promptly lost the 3rd set 6 – 1. Since then, Serena has literally put the fear of God in Maria (think Australian Open and Miami 2008).

The overall problem with Maria’s game is that it is very one note. It is all power and fearlessness (I guess that’s two notes). I admire her fight, but I think that Serena and Venus (on grass only . . .for now?) have taken that out of her. I am not so sure about Dementieva or Safina. They are both overrated IMO, and can crumble at any given moment. Super-ditto for Zvonereva.

Sharapova can dominate, but only sporadically. The other top power players, if they are in form can hit with her, and can definitely outmove her. If Safina or Venus or Ana are having a consistent groundstroke day, Maria is toast. (Unfortunately, those days have been few and far between for Ana.)

Any of the girls who can absorb her power and make her run will always give Sharapova a hard time, including most of those mentioned by Andrew Broad.

Justine Henin was one of the few exceptions to use smarts and excellent skill to outwit her. With the Williams, it’s always whoever gets the first look in or can’t stand the heat in the kitchen(too much tension).

But you wouldn’t want to discount the upstarts like Navarro et al. The unknown opponent does upset her sometimes and some of those girls can be very feisty(playing Maria seems to touch a nerve in some opponents).

So I’m optimistic that Maria will be able to serve normally when she comes back – although she proved by reaching the French Open 2007 semi-finals that she can win without a serve!

More importantly still, Maria is incredibly strong mentally, focused and disciplined. She won’t come back until she’s ready to compete at the top level, but when she does: watch out!!

I don’t think Maria will be struggling with opponents ranked outside the top 100, as she was at last year’s French Open and Wimbledon. Well, she’ll probably struggle on clay – her worst surface by some distance – but who will be her toughest competitors on other surfaces?

* The Williams-sisters may be 28 and 27, but they’ve been more impressive in the last year than at any other time since 2003. I see them as Maria’s toughest competitors for the next two years.

* Dinara Safina is a major problem for Maria – especially on clay – because she gets inside Maria’s head like no other player, with her intimidating body-language and ability to come back from seemingly inevitable defeat. Maria needs a special ‘Safina-shield’ when she plays her!

* Vera Zvonarëva is a criminally underrated player, who always gives Maria a tough match, and has beaten her three times. This is actually my favourite match-up among all active players: the irresistable force against the immovable object, with no shortage of flairsome power from either player!

* Maria is 8:2 against Elena Dementieva, but Dementieva has improved a lot since Maria last played her. Her serve is no longer a laughing-stock, and I actually believed she could win the Australian Open this year. It would be interesting to see how her game would match Maria’s this year, though I’d still have to give Maria the edge except on clay, and certainly on grass.

* Maria is 4:4 with Svetlana Kuznetsova, but Kuznetsova’s results have been up and down, and I would give the edge to Maria on a big occasion (provided it’s not on clay).

* Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic could be tough opponents for Maria, but they’ve lost a lot of form, so the first question is whether they can get that back. Losing does a lot more damage to one’s confidence than not playing.

* Nadia Petrova has enjoyed a resurgence to #9 in the last year, but Maria is 5:1 against her, and has the mental edge over Petrova, who really dislikes her.

* Agnieszka Radwanska may have shocked Maria at the US Open 2007 and risen to #10 since, but she lacks power, and has never impressed me when I’ve watched her. (But watch out for Agnieszka’s younger, more attractive and more talented sister Urszula!)

* Victoria Azarenka is a hard-hitting, loud-grunting player, who beat Maria the only time they played (Moscow 2007), and won her first two WTA singles-titles already this year.

* I could go on and on, but I think I have covered the main threats for the foreseeable future. I also see Alizé Cornet, Caroline Wozniacki and Dominika Cibulková – to name but three – coming up for a great future, though I have doubts about their abilities to take down an on-form Maria.