Is Maria Sharapova scheduled to crash and burn as the Williams sisters and Henin capitalise?

Why not? If she is determined she will.. You have to be slow to judge because all things you have said about the Williams have been proven wrong... be careful you(commentators)

I think that Maria can find form but i don't think that Maria has enough time to be able to overcome Henin and the Williams sisters.

Maria is obviously a fierce competitor, but Maria's biggest problem right now is not even her shoulder...it's her ability to develop a plan B and her inability to will herself to win. Unless Maria can mentally overwhelm you, it proves difficult for her to beat top competitors, which is why Serena and Venus pummel her- they have that quality. She must diversity her game more and will herself to win. I do not know if she has learned that yet. Jelena Jankovic is learning this and her ranking is proof of it.

I think that she is a great player but I worry that this shoulder injury may hamper her so much that her game will suffer. Elena Dementiava had a good serve before her shoulder injury and now it is one of the worst among top players. However I think that Maria has more drive and I think that she will overcome this.

I think Maria is losing to players like the Williamses, and Ivanovic because she's not as good as the hype. For many ,she was the great hope to replace the Williamses and they're crushing her. So many people wanted her to be the face of tennis when it's clear Henin is the best player in the world. Sorry but for Maria, hype is meeting reality.

i totally agree with Lacey and Rix's comment...i couldn't have said it better myself!

You mean the so called shoulder injury that seems to show up like magic whenever needed? You mean the shoulder injury that she seems to re-get every time she meets a REAL TOP player? I know you are not talking about the same shoulder injury she allegedly got way back in Hong Kong? Maria has a game injury, a psychological block injury, and a confidence injury....no more, no less.

I don't believe Maria ever recovered from the "steam roll" from Serena. Since then she has not demonstrated the determination and will power she is known for. Her injury may well be more psychological than physical. I wish her the best because she is a great role model.

Dear Readers, Maria Sharapova has remarkable athletic talent. Unfortunately, she has falllen to the same media scrutiny as The Williamses have well before her. Because she attempts to secure a life outside of tennis, and one with the glamor and panache only befitting someone as beautiful and wealthy as she is at 20; the internatiional press and indeed an alarming number of tennis fans, have chosen to ignore the fact that young people who have been reshaped by the lifestyle revolutions of the late 1990s are choosing to live as many of the humans that lurk within themselves. And these are the ones that round them out as people over and above the talent and skill that pay the bills. Maria is only 20. She is now learning in significant ways what tennis does to the body and how one must use as much of youth's tonic to find the curatives that supersede injury. Two of my other darlings, Serena and Venus, have proven at the middle and old ages of 25 and 27, respectively, that comebacks aren't comebacks after all

they are great peaks over the course of athletes who choose to tame the beasts within with what little girls are made of. Maria has many more peaks to come and many more dresses to wear! God Bless All Three of Them!

How can you say hype??? Sharapova has won 2 grand slam titles, beating Serena in wimbledon and only last year Justine Henin for Us Open, The girl is talented but i agree she must have a mental block as the hammering she has been getting is so unlike her

Here's how I can say hype. Matt Cronin predicted that Sharapova would dominate women's tennis. This is hype and it has clearly not happen. How can I say hype? Tracey Austin has picked Sharapova to win every tournament for the last two years except the FO. Did this happen? No, again this is hype and sometimes when hype meets reality, hype gets crushed just like Sharapova is being crushed by better players. Reality is knocking at her door and the apologists will come in and make excuses when the truth is, she's a good player who the media and the WTA hyped to be the best. These are the facts, no way around it, she's isn't as good as the hype and is being beaten by better players. Serena at the AO, Ivanovic at the FO and Venus at Wimbledon. They outplayed her, no way around it. The facts and reality crushed the hype.

If Maria restructures her game and stop falling back on this mystical injury, she will be a force again. Maria will be beat BADLY, by most of the top 10 players until she smells this coffee. Maria is 20 and has all that´s needed to really get her act together. The game Maria is playing these days is so very readable and static.

my gripe is the commentators and the and pova favs keep putting her in the league of the williams sisters. why dont they put her in the league with momo and davenport. you never hear these people comparing her to justine henin. come on now, the williams girls are in the company of some great tennis players. to me when they try to compare sharapova to the williams girls it diminishes the williams greatness in the sport. also when she can win 8 or 6 grand slam titles then you can start comparing her game with ummmm maybe justine or venus, but never serenas. since you all know tennis do the homework. we know she is overhyped to be the face of tennis. but, there are stronger and more younger girls coming in everyday, so i dont think pova will reach the height of the williams ever. remember she is making money hand over fist from endorsements not for her tennis slams or titles. that is the reason why she is a cash cow. no pun intended. unless the field get weaker, she is headed for more beat downs. whe

Maria always gets easy draws in the early rounds..thats the problem....she gets the easy draws and chokes in the semis and finals when she meets the real tough players..if she gets a tough opponent in the third round then she plays better if you look at the tournaments she's won you can see it

I agree with the really hype comments. Here are some numbers to consider: Since 1999 there have been 35 Grand Slam tournaments played. Williams Sisters have won 40% of those tournamnet. The number of grand slams won by the current top 10 players in the world (excluding Serena of course) 11, the Williams Sisters 14. The numbers speak for themselves. The media wants Maria S. to be the next coming because she is cute, but quiet as it's kept, I think that Daniela Hantuchova and Ana Ivanovic look better than she does. Go to the WTA's website and look at the pictures!!!

I do have to agree with the hype theory. She has the power to hit through most people but when you're playing the top players you can only expect that power to come right back to you. She needs to work on her all-court game, her volleying and her movement before she can really hang again. The problem is definitely psychological but the only answer to that enhancing your game and being equipped the like of Henin and the Williams sisters.

In my view, its not so much that Maria Sharapova is fading, but everyone is catching up to her on the WTA tour. Sure, maybe Sharapova isn't as consistent as last year and her serve not as strong, but look at who's coming up this year. Jankovic has really come out of no where the past 12 months and hits the ball not quite as powerful as Sharapova, but is twice as quick and athletic. Henin is always dangerous; her variety will get sharapova nine times out of ten. Ivanovic and Vaidisova are still rising and are already giving Sharapova some lessons (Ivanovic-French Open). You must also include the Russians, as when they have confidence, they can out play Sharapova, such as Kuznetsova, Petrova, and Dementieva. And of course the Williams sisters, they are just amazing, winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon like they did; their confidence in their ability will get them out of every obstacle possible. And that's just the thing that Sharapova is lacking this year: Confidence. Last year that's what Maria had, an

Maria has no chance of defending her U.S. Open title successfully! Ther's too much opposition this year and her head is somewhere else except on the tennis court! She has had 3 crushing defeats in the majors, winning a total of 10 games in those 3 matches, granted the fact that 1 was a final and 1 was a semi-final. The U.S. Open winner will be between Justine and Venus, why? Justine is obviously the best player in th world with her variety, she's decpitively powerful, and she finally beat Serena on another surface beside clay which is a big confidence boost! Venus is coming off her 4th successful Wimbledon title and the most confidence of all the women with the most recent success, so expect Venus to be in the top 10 possibly top 8 before the U.S. Open, win her 7th grand slam, and move closer to tennis immortality! So, Maria has no chance, U.S. Open champion will be either Justine or Venus, mostly Venus!!!

Okay.. I agree with alot of you. Maria S. has been taunted as the great hope to replace the williams sister. It will not happen. The Williams sister ran Martina Hingis into a corner and they do alot of their opponents like that. Look at the fear in Maria S. eyes when she plays a top ten player. I too would make an excuse(shoulder injury) if I am getting my brains beat out on the biggest stage. Have you noticed this year that every time she gets stompped on she does not play for a month or more? She is a good player but not one of the best. She is good at beating players not in the top ten and that is it. Let's not forgot that when she beat Serena at the Wimbledon, Serena was just back from surgery, she beat Serena at the end of the year championship, Serena had a pulled stomach muscle. It's amazing how no one remember this.But when she gets beats by top players they all remember her "shoulder injury"

Her shoulder injury is real. When she played at Indian Wells a few years ago, her armpits were puffing out of her dress, so swollen were the muscles. Alas, now she has other problems. Maybe she's looked at herself in the mirror, read some of her interviews. Or just something else. I'd pull her at Nike, big time. She is a role model all right, a role model for Heidi Fleiss!