Davenport will win in straight sets.

Morning Tom, just woke up to check scores and saw that of all the top seeded women, Serena had the best results in her win last night. Good to see. Will be checking in periodically to "listen" to match calls of this one. Hate to say but after this match it will be Sharapova 5, Lindsay 1

I don't think so, Sharapova is not the same player she used to be, and Davenport seems really confident right now.

I think davenport might give her a close fight in the 1st set but maria will pull through in two tight sets

it's finally back to tennis on the Poker Channel. thank heavens.

OMG, the twin towers, Karlovic and Isner, are playing their first doubles match. Why oh why isn't it on a televised court?

Hey I was hoping that this match would last long enough for me to get home to watch Roddick.

Oops looks like Sharapova is going to win...

This is the first time I have seen Davenport play since having her baby and she is even slower than she was before, her legs are just not moving, and Sharapova is playing particularly well today.

Davenport showed glimpses of her former self but was outclassed by Sharapova today. Lets hope Sharapova repeats this performance against Henin in the quarter-finals because the next few rounds look like plain sailing for Maria.

Tom, thanks for the info on Sharapova's serve motion. I thought she'd gone back to her normal serve but it helps to have it verified.

I hope the result of this match will stop the endless nightly repetition of "greatest current story in women's tennis." Yes, but over-hyped imho.

let's not burry Davenport too soon! I'm not surprised by the result but in earnest it's Davenport's first "REAL" match in terms of competitiveness (I don't count the one against Jankovic last year, who I think wasn't her complete self that day). I'm sure, she'll do what she has to do in terms of fitness, timing and other readjustments.

Maria was imperial and I'm so glad her serve is back!!!

i gotta agree - this was lindsay's first top level competition. She's got a ways to go before she's competing at their level again. that being said - i'm looking forward to her continueing, as its been great fun to have her back on the tour.

Davenport may have lost but it was to a better player today. I don't think she will be that disappointed with her 2nd loss in 20 matches.

Since its two members of the WTA being discussed here, allow me to go a little off-tangent as I thoroughly enjoyed reading the latest from James Martin of Viewpoint(have you guys been there yet?) watching from thousands of miles away. This part on Women's Tennis really got me cracking (so with James next paragraph on Nalby and Baggy http://www.tennis.com/features/general/features.aspx?id=111922 ):

"Women’s tennis

I’m not naming names here, but some of the players on the WTA Tour ought to invest in a better tailor. That, or they really need to get into better shape. While not everyone can be as fit as Justine Henin, players should not be taking the court with a spare tire around their waste. And if they insist on doing this, please, for the love of Dolce and Gabbana, ditch the form-fitting outfits that leave nothing to the imagination. As Mary Joe Fernandez said on-air, there’s not much you can completely control in tennis, but fitness is one of them (the serve being the other). This is a world-class sport, and it’s time these players train harder because, I’m sorry, it’s an embarrassment to the game when you turn on the tube and you’re not sure if you’re watching pro tennis or a special episode of the Biggest Loser."

Agree with James that some of the ladies do not deserve to walk on court. Gajdisova for one - what she wore and how she looked, guilty on two counts (underneath her yellow nightgown see-through-in-the-sun outfit, you could clearly see a salva vida around her waist). She should have stuck to a simpler straight cut outfit.

Two girls already out of the tournament - Bartoli and Paszek - should follow James advice and go jog a few hundred miles between now and their next tournament.

Serena - I like it that she's trimmed some pounds, although she did not look big at all to me in her younger years as it was 95% muscle to me.

Watching the night match between Andy Roddick and Berrer now, the blue court now looks grayish blue, surrounded by light blue around.

"salva vida" - livesaver (rubber ring) for the beach

I don't agree with Dee - or with James Martin, in particular.

I'm not a world class tennis player myself, and so I don't presume to know how, precisely, you achieve that lofty position. But I do assume that it requires incredible dedication and sacrifice to go with talent. The fact that so many top players do not look like swimsuit models does not lead me to believe they are fat, or unfit. It sounds like the shallowest and ugliest of celebrity-magazine-type judgments. David Nalbandian is one of the very best players in the world, with an excellent record in five-setters -- but I, from my la-z-boy with my hi-def, can tell that he's lazy, unfit, out of shape. In fact, last year when Federer was losing a few matches several commenters wondered if he had a bit of a tummy. D'oh!

Commenters on the blog can say what they like, because their (our) comments are weighted accordingly, but 'tennis magazine editors' should have a bit more cop. Just for balance, maybe James Martin should print a picture of himself in a swimsuit, so we could all see how he leads by example.

I do think most of the writers are superb, though, including Tom, Kamakshi, Steve, and Pete (I believe Pete's the only other one who occasionally carries on about shape.)

Tom,
I remember seeing that picture at that time where Maria beat LD there also in the semis, I believe.

On what Nora said:

Nalbandian looked to be in much better shape when he got on a roll last year than any time in the last couple of years -so did Baghdatis when he reached the finals in 05'. Fitness matters. I can't remember anyone else around the top 50 in the men's game who doesn't look reasonably fit. There more than a couple of women's players who do, and it just kinda looks bad, like they're not working enough on they're fitness (even though some of them might be, it's a hard subject). As far as us fans go, we're not profesional atheletes.

they're -> their

they're -> their

So I missed the match, which didn't seem to be much anyway.
But that's a great picture.

I am not reading too much into this result, and neither should Lindsay. I think Davenport played OK. There were 2 deciding factors to this match... Maria's serve was extremely strong, and Lindsay had a bad day returning serve. If LInsay could have stepped up her return game, which normally is a lot better than it was last night, she would have been right in there with an equal chance to win. I think by Indian Wells she will be back on track.

Maria looked good... she has a real shot at Henin if she can sustain her serving and level of play we saw last night.

>>David Nalbandian is one of the very best players in the world, with an excellent record in five-setters

Among elite players, Nalby also has some of the most uneven results - didn't he go through much of last year not getting past the third round of any tournament? Definitely sub-par, if he's truly "one of the very best". I think it's entirely legitimate to question his motivation and fitness.

>>Just for balance, maybe James Martin should print a picture of himself in a swimsuit, so we could all see how he leads by example.

Not sure what this has to do with anything. Are only people with the training regimen of a Rafa Nadal allowed to write about tennis as a profession, in your view of the world?

Was expecting a better outing from Lindsay. Her flat hard groundies match up well to Maria's who also hits a very flat shot. It looked like Lindsay's timing started to come around a bit by the end, but she just could not stay in the rally long enough to make Maria work. Maria's serve looking improved though.
J

Joe --

No, my point was that Nalbandian is an elite player. They're all elite players, but they can't all win all the time. There's very little room at the top. There's no debate about it, his results put him in the top ten in the world the past 5 years, and his play at the end of the year confirmed it. Plus 20-6 record in Davis Cup, including 12-3 in singles. Noone has shown any demonstrable relationship between his fitness and his results. His motivation is a separate subject.

No, you don't have to have Rafa's workout regimen to write about tennis, but you should show some depth of insight into the game, or the players' fitness, or both. James wasn't showing anything in his article except his ability to comment on players' appearance. Ergo, my comment. Rereading his paragraph on the WTA, maybe he could just show himself modeling some appropriately flattering tennis outfits. It would show he has a sense of humor, anyway.

Hard to imagine how so many top players of both genders let themselves get so out of shape.

Seeing Lindsay looking fit and trim (although a bit slow) after having a baby 7 months ago pretty much takes away the excuses for Svetlana and Bartoli and some of the lesser lights.

Also hard to imagine two such gifted athletes as Marcos and David N have that belly roll. I am 67 and have knees so bad I cannot run to stay in shape or even do much tai chi, but I would be embarrassed to have those waist lines. Yes, both Marcos and David cover the court well and both strike the ball as well as anyone, but one has to wonder how well they would do if they were as fit as Roger, Rafa, Andy R, Blake, or Hewitt.

Far more players are in such good shape than in the past and yet we have a few stand out. I would think that playing tennis an average of 2-3 hours per day alone would take care of most extra fat. And when you factor in how much money there is to be made, it is inexcusable.

This out of shape stuff is overblown. There is only so much you can do with your body type. It's genetic, and many pro football players have a lack of muscle definition, as do weightlifters. Women all have some amount of subcutaneous fat, which is why they don't have muscle definition like men, and that varies from person to person. Most men don't have good muscle definition, for that matter.

They are not fashion models, and dieting can affect strength negatively while it reduces fat, and fat can store energy. Obviously these women would prefer to be slender, and they are world class athletes the way they are. It's not as if they are sitting around eating chocolate every day with no exercise. To ignore gender and genetics is absurd. Kuznetsova is solid muscle. So is Nalbandian. I'm confident he has experimented with diets and exercise, since millions of dollars are at stake, but simply has a genetic makeup which includes a bit of fat, and genetically, that will be much more common with women. I admit that some of them seem to have so much excess fat that it does seem that they could so something about it, but without discussing it with the player, and what she's tried, it's unfair to make a blanket criticism, and it's up to the player what she wants to wear. It's not a fashion show. Any player who is good enough to play in a slam is a very good player, who gets tons of exercise and is a good athlete, and certainly knows that being faster and lighter will help her game, but if it cuts down on her strength, she might not be able to do much about it, balancing everything. Hantuchova is at the other end of the spectrum. I get tired of hearing her criticized because she is too thin. That's genetics.