WTA final prediction:

Sharapova - Maria has blazed through the top half of the draw with ease beating LD, Vesnina, Elena D, Justine, and Jelena along the way losing only 24 games(0 sets). For all the talk about her easy draws, no one can say that she had an easy draw at 2008 AO. If she wins, it will be well deserved.

Ivanovic - Ana has improved her fitness and her confidence got a boost when she lost to Justine in 3 sets at Sydney. She finally got a signature win on HC against Venus. Venus was off slightly but Ana was attacking Venus 2nd serve especially with that lethal FH. Then, her toughness was tested against Dani and she was able to rally from losing the first 8 games to win.

With this match ends, Sharapova will have her 3rd Slam by winning 6-3,6-1. Then, talk will shift to Maria about whether she can complete a career Slam at Roland Garros or will Justine 4-peat(5 out of 6).

I think Ivanovic will take this one.

I think this match , if tight, willl go to the Serbian. She is inspired by Djokovic's win just like she was with Jankovic over enus Williams. Here horrible 6-0 set is gone aganist Hantuchova, and she will win tonite. She will be inspired and will make it tight and really I think seize the moment. She is the crowd favorite and who they want to win. That win was so big last night for Serbia, and it will inspire Ivanovic definitely.

The cards are in this country for this tournament, Ivanovic in two tremendous sets of tennis.

And the "Hottie Bowl", this just shows how we are just naive in the world. What is beauty? Yes, Ivanovic is attractive, and though I think Sharapova is just ok, well, it is what it is. But seriously, come on, and will the ratings be good, we'll see?

"The all-time champions and true No. 1s win when they’re expected to win."

Very true, Steve.

I hope Ivanovic wins this one. It will be tough, since Maria has been in good form, especially in cruising past Justine and Jelena the last 2 rounds. However, Ana notched her first win over Venus in the QF, then won a gut-check performance against Hantuchova after losing the first 8 games of the match, and I think she can build on that tonight.

Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but I'm going with Ana in 3. We'll see in a few hours ...

"The all-time champions and true No. 1s win when they’re expected to win."

Um... every time? But enough about last night. Sharapova in straights.

I didn't think Sharapova played all that well against Jankovic, who seemed injured in set 2.
If the Sharapova who beat Henin shows up, she'll win easy. If not, we might get a close, suspenseful match.

Ivanovic for the win here. This tournament's mens semis was an underdog celebration. I expect the woman's finals to be the same.

I'm pulling for Maria tonite but what I really want is just to see a good match. I don't wanna see nobody choking or playing below 100%.

If we get a well played match on both ends, it doesn't matter what the score is, we all win.

I must say I'm pulling for Ana. I agree with Chiconinja and just want a good match.
Maybe we might call this "The Super Model Bowl" : Squeaky vs. Shrieky.

"The all-time champions and true No. 1s win when they’re expected to win."

When who expects them to win?

Anyone else think this is going to be an ugly, ugly match? I'm not even sure I'm going to watch.

Prior to Federer, I doubt that the #1s won more than half of the slams, or even close.

Ryan: Not sure, it could be. I'm heading out for a drink or two now, and will be back in time for the final (have the DVR set just in case).

Have fun Sam, and I'll be pulling for Ana (obviously).

Thanks Ryan (on both counts).

the maria justine match was top notch, ana (at her best) nearly went down to an awkward venus, ana still seems vulnerable, a win over an imploded dani or a second rated venus just doesn't compare to a win over world #1 justine henin and breaking a hot streak, maria gets the assignment done with precision power and determination, ana will gone down in straight

Quick question:

How do you think both Maria or Ana will celebrate after either one of them capture match point?

Ana: On her knees in tears of disbelief for me is what I predict

Maria:
On her knees to glorify the moment and just be in happiness and relief.

I came up with that term "precision power", LOL

Yes, Scwabster, haha.

Okay, key's to the match.

For Maria Sharapova:
-You know what to do
-Keep the crowd out of it
-Don't tighten up, because you can

For Ana Ivanovic:
-Stay with her, don't let her get a fast start
-It's hot out there, your just as fit, whose gonna win the long points
- Wipe away the YEC's, think about today and the French Open. Match her "intensity"

Final, if Ivanovic doesn't start good, Sharapova will win, 6-1, 7-5

And remember, if Sharapova wins, she should think Venus Williams. If it wasn't for Venus, she would not have been in the YEC's, and who would have thought that.

Of course it was 1997 for Hingis in Melbourne. Sorry to be pedantic. Steve, I share your frustration with the people who think that tennis ended the day Borg hung up his headband but what makes it more galling is that these people are still prepared to pontificate on the sport. I don't necessarily think it's depressing that the final will generate more interest because the women are hot. I know I'm a lot more interested in the men's final because Tsonga is sex on legs. Am I allowed to say that here?

Meanwhile it's 6-5 to Sharapova in the first and far more competitive than most of us expected. Ivanovic looks a little mentally already shaky though. It's roughly 2 fist pumps for every point won.

Ana needs a shoe timeout. Her squeaking is pretty good, but the shrieking is dominating the squeaking. She needs to change footwear to get the squeak level up to competitive levels.

This is really mediocre tennis. They are so tight, both of them have crumbled totally in games. Slam pressure is amazing.

I actually like PTI. They even wished Chrissy happy birthday a few weeks ago on the show and talked about her being engaged to Greg Norman.

Too bad for Ana today, she really improved since the FO final but still...just a couple of points here and there...and that slice bh at 0-30 5-4!!!

whatever site you visit, most people and writers are rejoicing that

there are new stars, fresh talent on the rise, young blood to carry on the sport ... the audacity of hope

but strange that this is a feeling KADS can not understand

they got stuck to someone. can't see the beauty in others.

Cultism.

they just can't move on...

CLEAN WINNERS

TSONGA: 316 winners ( took out 4 seeds)

DJOKOVIC: 210 winners (took out 3 seeds)

Guess which one Science favors?

the hottie bowl? give me a break!

Patrick,
it might be interesting to you. (wasn't posting for the luck).

after sharapova had crushed henin (and the way she did it), maria became the top favourite to win the title. BUT, there was a tiny little thing. since 2003 (wimbledon) not a single girl won the tournament if she did beat henin on her way to the finals. not one. you can check that out. we gave it a name of "the curse of henin". can you imagine - 4,5 years it took to break this spell:) masha's peak form in this aussie open was in the match against henin. i only prayed that she was able to accomplish the mission. cause a win over henin (a bagel!!!) is a great result in itself but whole job wasn't done yet. a win over henin drains, it's tough mentally to keep on (for any player), you already beat the best player out there. (did you see what happened to ana i. in the first set against daniela or jj against maria?)
i was happy with maria's perfomance in madrid last year (especially in the final). and you can imagine what i felt during the match against henin this time. well done, masha. it's only fair that you won this slam. sharapova keeps saying that all the time: the hard work is gonna pay off.

it was so nice to read those weepings in pete's threads: not only shrieky. anyone but the shrieky. totally pathetic.

haters, i'm glad you ate this win.

i'm far from thinking that masha will dominate wta right now. she isn't ready yet. she's nowhere near as phisically fit as justine. but sharapova is a true champion. and she gave signs of tennis she's able of producing in the match against henin. i guess bob, samantha, other henin kads - they shuddered at the thought of it.

Andron,
Congrats to you and Maria for winning the 2008 AO. Been a while since I saw you post. She was by far the best player these past 2 weeks handling a difficult draw. She was over 50+ winners to errors and except for the game she got broken and the game she served at 4-5 yesterday, Maria had some easy service games which afforded her the chance to pressure Ana on her serves. Now, the focus shift on whether she can complete the Career Slam at RG and dethrone Henin at the same time.

thanks, Patrick. always enjoy reading your posts (same goes to Bob). i actually a bit envy you your calmness and clear mind.

>whether she can complete the Career Slam at RG and dethrone Henin at the same time.<

i very highly doubt about that this year. henin is clearly the best so far.

Andron, I'm not going to pretend like I would love the type of tennis Sharapova does dominating the game. I think a lot of the beauty, variety and grace would leave the game. Sorry, I'm not a fan of ugly ball bashing. But your girl played great, out played Justine, so congrats to her.

the women's final was rather tedious, partly no doubt because of nerves, but perhaps also because the players were too similar. Sharapova really needs an Henin, a Jankovic, or even that new one, whatever her name was, who should have beaten Jankovic in first round. Then we can get some decent rallies going, and see how power copes with guile. In the context of the final, the term "ballbashing" seems unfortunately appropriate. But I reject it when Sharapova plays Henin - then we see two matadors in action, with very different sets of skills. For what Sharapova does is very skilful indeed and as such, she is an ornament to the game. Players like Henin and Sharapova need each other. When one defeats the other, her reputation is, justifiably, enhanced. Having said that, I look forward to a Sharapova/Venus Williams final at Wimbledon. Williams has guile as well as power, Sharapova has undoubtedly learnt from her crashing losses to the sisters, and I think we'd have a real fight.

Grendel,
Tamira Paszek is the lady who should have beat Jelena in first round. She had 5 chances to serve it out.

I think that is Tsonga had more confidence he would have won the Australian Open. He looks like he hits bigger and more accurate than anyone I have ever seen. I wonder if his size cost him in the final. Bigger muscled people don't usually have the same endurace as smaller muscles. That would be the only concern I have with him winning in a longer than 3 set match. I know he did go more than three sets with Richard Gasquet but I don't think Gasquet hits as hard as a rule as Djokovic.

My column on Sharapova form my blog
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This time, there was nothing bad you could say about Maria Sharapova.

“What?” says the purest tennis fan? Yes, nothing at all.

You couldn’t accuse her of getting snarly with the media and protecting her atypical asinine father. You couldn’t berate her for her constant dearth of sportsmanship, whether it’s illegal coaching from her paranoid papa and hitting partner Michael Joyce or the multitudinous “Come on’s” she vociferates at both appropriate and inappropriate times. And you certainly couldn’t dismiss this now three Grand Slam champion for her serve, which whether it was more about the injuries or the shattered lack of confidence, went away faster than that Canon commercial she had with that dog last year.

Because Sharapova, whether you liked her or not, did everything right to win the Australian Open and ended all the talks about whether her career, at just 20 years of age, was already in a defining crossroads. And yes, you could be (and probably should be) happy for her, even if you are probably the farthest from a fan of hers.

“So exciting, it's amazing,” she said in a sense of relief and obvious joy after beating Ana Ivanovic 7-5, 6-3. “I'm just so thankful that I got this one.”
Thankful is even an understatement to how jovial she was happy to win this title, because her dominance in the first six rounds of this tournament was in jeopardy in that first set. All that hard work in the offseason, that intense focus she maintained all throughout the tournament, and her brutal relentless efficiency almost meant nothing after Ivanovic won three straight games to go up 5-4 in the first set, and then be within two points away from changing the entire perception of both the tournament and Sharapova’s renewed confidence.

But “Mighty Maria” (if marvelous is too aesthetically pleasing for you taste of a fitting nickname) was destined to win this title, and she did nothing completely wrong in order to spoil her resurgence to the upper echelon of the women’s game. The Serbian got tight, real tight, and didn’t seize the moment like she was about to.

Sharapova did the opposite of all those things. She didn’t give Ivanovic three set points with a jammed body serve. She refused to donate double faults like she did her previous serve game, where it seemed the “yips” had returned when the pressure and resentence from her opponent intensified. And she let her slightly younger opponent self destruct after a 15-30 drop shot attempt that you knew was going to be a major turning point.

“I was also two points away from losing that first set and I served my way out of it,” said Sharapova. “She got a little bit tight and also nervous because I think, you know, I was the one that was very close to losing that set. But I was just steady. I made her hit another ball, and it slipped away from her.”

And that basically was the only time interval were everything could have totally gone wrong for Sharapova in this fortnight. Everything fell in her favor. The draw, though tough, didn’t require her to play those certain sisters who were the main culprits of such a disastrous 2007 on the court. None of those players except Justine Henin held a winning record against her, and she had a history of overwhelming Henin like she definitely did in that amazing quarterfinal display.

Plus, most importantly, the rematch with that younger one of the two Williams’ girls with the demolition of last year’s final still in her mental frame never happened, as Jelena Jankovic did her the favor of the year. For all the comments of putting that heavy defeat to Serena Williams out of her head throughout all the post-match press conferences, the “American” Russian did admit in her winning speech the reality of that abasing moment.

“Really, I was no where near close to winning, I only won three games,” she candidly said to the crowd in attendance. A majority of the fans at Rod Laver heavily favored Ivanovic but definitely respected a rambling but heart felt speech from the world number five after the French Open finalist sent her passing forehand attempted wide on match point. And if she didn’t win them over with that speech, which included a shout-out to Joyce’s late mother Nancy who succumbed to cancer and a happy birthday pronouncement to her mother, then she certainly did with her trophy walk around the court, letting the fans touch the valued prize she won.

For Ivanovic, it was a great tournament cementing her status as a top player. She showed on the hard courts that she is a top contender, not letting Venus Williams run wild in the quarters and showing consistent feistiness in weathering the massive storm of overwhelming shot making from Daniela Hantuchova in the semifinals. But she still lacks that cutting edge and ability to tighten up and seize the moment like Sharapova has now done three times before turning 21. The champions are able to do that, and you must give the 2008 winner in Melbourne that accolade.

“It's a learning experience for me,” said the Belgrade native. “I fought hard, you know, I just felt a little bit let down with my forehand, made some big mistakes in crucial moments.”

The Siberian born native didn’t drop a set here, and she didn’t lose her focus at anytime. And beside Yuri’s thorat slashing heard “around the world”, her camp didn’t do anything where you shuddered at the thought of her winning, unless you were weary of another controversial event from Sharapova or her definitely notorious father. If she isn’t back at the top of the game, then she is certainly right there. And you can’t question whether she was at the game’s zenith these past two weeks, because she deserved this title.

Sharapova may not conduct herself to the full likings of the press or the regular tennis fan (because the fully uninformed casual fans would think she and her team does nothing wrong). And to say she had a complete transformation in character these two weeks is just as naïve and ridiculous as pronouncing Roger Federer’s demise after being handled in straight sets by Novak Djokovic.
No matter.

Even if you want to nip pick at her “complaint” of the Serbian fans not being quiet, her play over the fortnight and her tender moments on the microphone overshadowed all those pet peeves some many have about her for at least this tournament.

Maria Sharapova is back with vengeance. And with the way she won this title, 2008 is already exponentially better than 2007 for her and the legions of fans around the world that she has acquired. Because unlike last year, this Australian Open is where she could do nothing wrong at all.

Why does eneryone feel the need to demonize any tennis father? Has anyone ever been a father? Why is Yuri the devil just because he made a gesture which has a meaning no one is sure of, that was a personal thing between him and his daughter, and which the camera happened to capture? Le4t it go.

I'm so sick of you people always criticizing Maria, she is a champion so get over it. As tennis fan lets appreciate our players while they still around. One thing I’m not going to support in the women’s game is boring matches like we have seen this tournament. We need competitive matches.

Steve,
Are we going to have another report card wrap up on the 2008 AO?

WTA is off until this weekend when Fed Cup play begins. Will be interesting to see how Sharapova do against Israel? Will she have an emotional let down after her win? Also, that tie will be interesting to see if Peer can gain some confidence for the 2008 year playing Sharapova? Also, will the US win easily ,without the Williams Sisters, that is anchored by Davenport? I think the US will advance but team competition is completely different from normal tourneys.

Nice win by Maria. All credit to her. I hope she continues with this winning form.

Sharpova must have been feeling the pressure to defend the 700 points she won at last year's AO. If she didn't win, she'd have slipped even farther down in the rankings. She had to get at least to the finals to just stay in place at #5. Evening winning the tournie wouldn't move her up in the rankings. That's a lot of pressure.

What's the deal with Yuri Sharapov showing up in a camouflage hoodie and dark glasses when it was high summer in OZ? Was that some psychological intimidation gambit? I notice he dumped the hoodie after Justine was out of the tournie. His throat-slitting action was abominable and totally classless. I understand Maria defending him because he's her father, but she's not doing herself any favors by doing so.

"Even if you want to nip pick at her “complaint” of the Serbian fans not being quiet, her play over the fortnight and her tender moments on the microphone overshadowed all those pet peeves some many have about her for at least this tournament.
"

I don't think people are nitpicking. I think it is a valid complaint. Frankly, I wasn't at all impressed with her victory speech. It was contrived and disingenuous.

4 me...i like both of them...because they are awesome....

CONGRATULATIONS MARIA! You deserve to win the AO 2008. You had a very difficult draw and you are indeed a great player and a great champion. Your next target is the RG now that you have 3 Grand Slams in the bag! Show to the world that you can doit. Keep up the good work. Be consistent always. Don't let the just concluded AO 2008 win goes into your head and you fall in the next hurdle. Stay focus, be patient, mentally strong and physically fit like Henine. Now that you are in good form and is healthy unlike the year 2007, I hope that you will take advantage and win many more tournaments WTA. Best of luck and God bless you always

ana ivanovic je na jbolja teniserka u evropi