Why did Maria Sharapova get such an easy US Open draw?

Rankings try to make it as fair as possible. But there is no perfect system. Venus and Serena's rankings really make no sense at times. It isn't there fault that injury follows them everywhere they go. Most of the time players attend draws and arrange them randomly. But if the draw was tampered with so it may look better (say Venus and Ivanovic move to second half), loads of other issues will arise making the whole thing worser.

Rankings try to make it as fair as possible. But there is no perfect system. Venus and Serena's rankings really make no sense at times. It isn't there fault that injury follows them everywhere they go. Most of the time players attend draws and arrange them randomly. But if the draw was tampered with so it may look better (say Venus and Ivanovic move to second half), loads of other issues will arise making the whole thing worser.

Well, first of all, Sharapova's the number 2 seed so she automatically gets to be at the very bottom of the draw. Secondly, where all the seeds and players place in the draw is picked randomly, out of a bowl,in front of everyone and placed in that exact spot, the same moment it's being picked out. Besides, Sharapova hasn't always had the easiest draw. Her Wimbledon draw was really bitchy...Venus Williams in the 4th Round?

Easy draw or not, I can't see Sharapova winning the title with Venus, Serena and Henin more likely than her to be champion.

Nadal taking the title? Impossible. In 2 weeks he can't improve so much. Roddick is so nice..!! I love him... but he has to play the most dangerous players before federer....

well i completely agree with tumama12.Its not that the draw ceremony is held in some secret room where there is no media access......all id say is Sharapova's prayers have been answered.....all her this year nemesis like William sisters and ivanovic are on the other side....i happen to be a religious Sharapova fan but that doesnt mean that i believe that shez the best player that there is.....there are still a hell lot of chances that Maria will get beaten in the final.....but as far as i have observed Sharapova's game and selfconfidence.....i think she gonna get beaten if either of the William sisters reach the final...however if Ana or Henin reach...then i think Sharapova can tackle them.....and if nbot....then shez gonna lose to them in a tough three set battle.....and not like some amateur who lost to serena at Aussie open

I agree, Maria does have an easy draw.

easy draw? maybe; but then again, it can prove a disadvantage... many player who apparently have an easier draw fall in the first rounds... why? due to underestimating their oponents and having that "i'll get through it with no sweat" attitude....

Every Grand slam draw this year seemed to have an "easier half." Alizay is correct, it's not done in private so the fact that an article is even written suggesting conspiracy proves the writer to be a little bit out of touch and possibly could be accuse of not paying attention. Yes Toria it is you. Earlier this year Serena got the same benifit if you ask me. No complaints by anyone. The seeds are what they are. As people move up and down the rankings it just falls this way sometimes. If you follow some of the players below the ranking of say 20 or so on a regular basis you see this all the time. A player will go to one tournament and you look at the draw and there is no way they get anywhere. Go to the next tournament with virtually all the same players and that player your following all the sudden has a draw that if thing go right, they are going to have a "break out" tournament like Bartoli had at Wimbledon. There is no way Bartoli is good enough to make a Grand Slam final but the draw let her mak

I agree Maria did get an easy draw, America always seems to be impress with the girls from Russia. Who they should be impressed with is the Williams Sisters. And Steve, I do think the author said, she wasn't being realistic so perhaps you should go back and read what EXACTLY was written.

I'm a Maria fan but it seems that someone has gone out of their way to see her in the Final. Besides the lopsided draw she is set (if she makes it)to meet the No.4 seed in the semi's whereas last year when seeded No.3 she had to play the No.2 seed.Something to ponder.

Sharapova always gets easy draws. It's nothing new. If you ask me, she is not a great player. She will never again beat Venus or Serena Williams. All she has is power. She's not athletic. She's slowly turning into another Anna Kournikova. I'm sorry, but it's true. And how about Davenport?

I agree with the writer that Sharapova seems to have it mad. Most definitely, I am in agreement with "Rigged" that someone was really looking out for Sharapova. I do not have anything against her, but she is not all of what they perceive. Now since it has been discovered that she cannot beat neither Williams sister, she doesn't have to face them until she is in a good position, e.g., finals. She should not be tired if she makes it to the final because she will be on easy street whereas Serena, Venus, Justine, etc. will have to claw to get to the finals. Anyway, Serena, Venus and Justine are capable of doing just that. I still predict that Sharapova will not win the entire event no matter how they have her seeded.

Nadal winning the title is very unlikely as long as Federer is around, and rather unlikely even if Federer weren't around. "Once again barring any injuries" is like saying "Once again hitting too many errors and not enough winners". Jeez, if only!

Surely the least the writer of this article could have done is to find out HOW the draw is done. That would have saved her (?) wasting time making ointless allegations based on ignorance of the process

Once again i'd like to point out that the draw ceremony isn't held privately.....so all u guys who r talking about RIGGING.....its just pointless.....Moreover,if u guys happened to read other articles circulating on the net....u would have noticed that Patrick Mcnroe was the one who took out the chits for the rest of thw draw to be decided after Justine and Maria were alloted their top half and bottom half berths according to the seeds...(the second seed is given a bottom half berth as per the tennis rules)......having said that....id like to say that Patrick is a well known tennis analyst and he cant have possibly be involved in RIGGING of the draw.....moreover....apart from the general public....nobody likes Sharapova that much....including the players,the commentators and tennis analysts....so i dont think RIGGING is a plausible allegation....its just luck that Maria happened to be the second seed at the right time :D

I can't believe for the life of we how the heck people could think a draw can't be fixed. The election was fixed and you all think they can't fixed a draw. Isn't it strange that during this year the people who has whupped pova's butt are all in the top half of the draw? The last 3 slams maria has been getting all easy draws even the last tournament she played was well plan out to benefit her. She played her matches early and had time to rest while all the other players were given late night matches and had to play her earlier the next day. She got a tough draw at Wimbledon because it was well known that Venus was not playing up to par so she was put in Venus' draw with the hope that she would take Venus out, but little did they know Venus was ready for her. The WTA is a scam and they are trying to manufacture a champion which is not working. Everyone in maria's draw is injured or has not played in weeks because of some injury. There's no doubt in my mind whatsoever that this draw was fixed to benefit maria.

The two ESPN commentators who participated in the draw were MaryJoe Fernandez and Patrick McEnroe. Fernandez's married name is Godsick. She is married to IMG agency Tony Godsick which is the same agency that represents Sharapova. So we have the spouse of Sharapova's talent agency which gains a profit if she wins "helping" out with the draw. How very nice of her. Is Mrs.Fernandez Godsick the only person qualified to "help" with the draw? I'm not accusing her of anything. I'm simply pointing out that it gives the appearance of an inpropriety. It is the responsiblity of the USTA to make sure that the draw is fair and random, but there is also an obligation to assure that it give the appearance of fairness. To have someone with this close a connection to one of the player participating in the selection of players is unfair and serve only to allow for questions such as the ones I've raised. Anyone participating in the draw should have ABSOLUTELY NO CONNNECTION TO A PLAYER. If you look at Sharapova's draw, it's hi

My comments were cut off, so I want to finish. If you look at Sharapova's draw, it's highly unlikely that she wouldn't have to face at least one player who beat her in 2OO7 when in a random draw, she has a 50% chance of getting them. Every player that beat her in 2007, Venus, Serena,Ivanavic, Vera, Rezzai(sp) are on Henin's side of the draw. Just dumb luck, huh! Every player should be so lucky to have a spouse of their talent agency on the drawing committee. What luck! To those who say that the draw can't be fixed because it's in the public eyes. I say, basketball is in the public eye and recently a referee fixed matches and then gambled on the winner. Experience has taught me that if mankind can make it, he certainly can rig it. And nothing is impossible when it comes to what people will do for money or to gain an advantage over an opponent.Mrs. Fernandez Godsick's participation is enough to draw questions about the draw. Never say never, or life will give you a lot of surprises.

So what do you want the US Open Comittee to do? Evaluate the head-to-head win-lose ratio of Maria Sharapova to other players and get the players who beat Sharapova and place her in her draw? STFU BITCH! It happened by chance that the ranked players in Sharapova's half of the draw are the ones that she easily beats. It's not Serena Williams' fault if she couldn't increase her ranking by one to be part of Sharapova's draw. STUDY HOW THEY ARRANGE THE FUCKING DRAW BITCH!

typical thread from williams fan , vamos Russia vamos Masha ,,

#1 ranked player always meets with the 3rd and 5th ranked players at any Grand Slam. The #2 ranked player always meets the 4th and 6th ranked player at any Grand Slam. So Sharapova was ranked #3 in last year's US Open. Was it fair that she got Mauresmo in her part of the draw? She was 5-0 against Mauresmo before last year's semis. Heck yes. So STFU faggots!

How in the hell Justine and Serena keep meeting each other in the 1/4 of 3 slams and the draw is suppose to be random, please help me out with that one. They did the same shyt with Serena and Jen. Again, this draw is fixed to benefit hypepova and all the naysayers knows it. They are trying to create a champion in hypepova and failing badly.

FYI, IT'S NOT FUCKING RANDOM FOR THE TOP 8 PLAYERS BITCH!!! ,,I,, Go study the fucking draws moron! Serena's constant #8 ranking keeps her tied to Justine's half of the draw. Fucking bitch! Go learn shit! Naysayers my ass. You're all ignorant bastards! Presumptuous fools!