Delayed Gratification

Citing a shoulder injury, Maria Sharapova pulled out of her quarterfinal match against Daniela Hantuchova at the JPMorganChase Open. This ensures Lindsay Davenport's stay at #1 for at least another week. But as Davenport's Olympic points come off and she's not entered in Rogers Cup Toronto, the #1 ranking may just fall into Sharapova's lap after next week.

I would have liked Sharapova to earn the #1 ranking by winning a tournament, instead of Davenport just losing the points needed to remain at the top. Sharapova will become yet another one of those #1s who didn't win a Slam tournament en route to the top ranking in a particular year. Although she won Wimbledon last year, Masha was stopped in each of the year's past Slams by the eventual champions: Serena Williams in an Australian Open semifinal, Justine Henin-Hardenne in a French Open quarterfinal, and Venus Williams in a Wimbledon semifinal.

Hopefully Sharapova can justify her #1 ranking by this year's US Open; however, her past appearances on the world's fastest hard courts have not been too impressive. She exited in the third round against Mary Pierce last year, while 2003 saw her crash out in the second round to Emilie Loit.

In Montreal, Andre Agassi's quarterfinal with Gaston Gaudio was halted due to rain. The match will resume tomorrow with Agassi leading by one set to love.

posted by Noelle De Guzman @ 3:29 PM