NEW YORK — She’s the most glamorous star on the women’s tennis circuit and a three-time champion at Grand Slam tournaments, yet sometimes it seems like Maria Sharapova is under-appreciated.

Yes, the young woman with the world-class athletic ability, stuffed trophy case, megawatt smile, her own fashion line and lucrative endorsement deals. That Maria Sharapova.

Allow me to be clear here: no one is saying woe is Maria. The 23-year-old Russian with the dazzling beauty and groundstrokes, who won 6-1, 6-2 over Iveta Benesova on Thursday night to advance to the third round of the U.S. Open, lives quite the charmed life. She has been the best-paid female athlete in the world, and in January signed an $80 million deal with Nike. She loves her adopted town of Los Angeles as much as it loves her.

But in tennis circles, such as the real-time capital — the U.S. Open in New York, N.Y., with its National Tennis Center filled with players, coaches and commentators from all over the globe — Sharapova is written off as a movie star instead of a deeply respected talent. Angelina Jolie more than Meryl Streep.

Fact is, she’s more than a little bit of both.

In a sport in which Anna Kournikova serves as the poster model for fame over ability and achievement, Sharapova is the rare combination of all of the above. If she chooses to pass on a photo shoot on any given day, it sure isn’t for a lack of suitors. As for Sharapova’s achievements on the playing surface, the list is topped off by the trio of titles at majors: 2004 at Wimbledon, 2006 here and 2008 at the Australian Open. Among her colleagues on the WTA Tour, only Serena and Venus Williams and Justine Henin have more. She has advanced to the semifinals of slam events six times — at least once at each of the four majors. Sharapova has won 19 additional tour titles, and only a major shoulder injury that sidelined her from August 2008 to May 2009 broke up a five-year run in the top 10.
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NEW YORK — In perhaps the biggest surprise in day three at the U.S. Open, 18-year-old Ryan Harrison defeated No. 15 seed Ivan Ljubicic in a first-round match on Wednesday. Harrison, an American who needed three victories in last week’s qualifying tournament to advance to the main draw, beat the 31-year-old Ljubicic 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4.

Over three days of temperatures in the mid-90s, Ljubicic was the first player to cite the heat as his reason for losing. Asked after the match to detail his biggest problem against Harrison, the native of Croatia said, “The weather was my biggest enemy today. Throughout my career I struggled with the heat. I’m not really coping well with that, and I tried all kinds of different tactics to deal with it. I never find the right one. I was not returning well, not serving well, and Ryan was on top of his game.

“I sweat a lot and I felt really bad. I mean, I can’t move. It gets to me really quickly actually. Already in the first set I was struggling with it.”

Ljubicic did not hold back, even joking that instead of a heat rule for players, he would be in favor of an all-indoor tour. Then he got serious again.

“(Fans) are coming to see good tennis,” he said. “Days like this, it’s all about everything except tennis. It’s just trying to hang in there and hit some balls more on the court than the other guy or the other girl.

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Like a lot of major universities, there is a program at Ohio State for its former athletes to finish their degree work after their playing days are over. Degree completion, it’s called. It’s as if the school renews the old athletic scholarship that pays the freight but it no longer demands the sweat equity from the recipient. The school just reimburses the tuition, if the former player qualifies, so that the ex-Buckeye can finish building the foundation for a fruitful life.

Maurice Clarett, who as a freshman running back sensation carried the Buckeyes to its last national title in the 2002 season, learned he didn’t qualify when he inquired earlier this year about returning to his old stomping grounds. But that was a stunning inquiry in itself.

After all, Clarett quickly became less known for his fabulous freshman campaign and more recognized for 1.) getting suspended by Ohio State after filing a false theft report, 2.) falling at least $1 million in debt from legal fees for fighting, unsuccessfully, the NFL’s draft eligibility rules and, finally, 3.) getting sentenced to 7 1/2 years in a Toledo prison on robbery and weapons convictions.
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The list of NFL teams in need of receivers seems to grow by the day. St. Louis suddenly has to replace Donnie Avery, who was placed on injured reserve after hurting his knee Thursday night. San Diego might still be forced to find someone to take Vincent Jackson’s spot, if he’s traded or continues his holdout. The Jets could use some depth while Santonio Holmes serves his four-game suspension, Seattle wants another veteran, the Redskins and Bears have question marks — the list goes on and on.

But here’s a little tip for all of those teams: Don’t bother calling Antonio Bryant. It’s not worth it. Just ask Cincinnati.

The Bengals released Bryant on Sunday, a little less than six months after handing out an inexplicable four-year, $28 million contract to the 29-year-old receiver — including about $7 million in guaranteed money, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. Bryant will try to recoup even more of that original contract, too.

“Our opposition is you can’t cut a guy if he’s hurt. We know what the rules are. We expect to be paid his salary for the year,” Bryant’s agent, Lamont Smith, told the Enquirer. “He understands what his rights are. We’ve talked about it over the last three weeks and he understands it’s a business.”

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Two-time defending champion Caroline Wozniacki won her third consecutive title at the Pilot Pen on Saturday by defeating eighth-seeded Nadia Petrova of Russia in three sets 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. It is Wozniacki’s second straight WTA tournament title and her third this summer on hard court.

Wozniacki enters Flushing Meadows as the U.S. Open’s No. 1 seed, having won 14 of 15 matches since Wimbledon. The 20-year-old Dane finished runner-up at last year’s Open and looks to claim her first Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows this year.

It will be interesting to see if fatigue factors into the Dane’s performance in Flushing. The U.S. Open will be Wozniacki’s fifth tournament in five weeks.

The Dane had trouble closing Petrova out on Saturday and must be more aggressive if she is to roll through the field at the Open. Petrova generated 12 aces against Wozniacki, but Wozniacki’s groundstrokes were more consistent, winning 15 more points than her Russian opponent.
The original article and other great content can be found at this URL: http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2010/08/28/caroline-wozniacki-grabs-third-title-of-summer-at-pilot-pen/

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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Stan Kroenke has been a primary NFL owner for all of one NFL game. His first was this preseason scuffle, featuring his St. Louis Rams against the New England Patriots here on Thursday night. Kroenke welcomed a visitor at halftime, a peer who already owns three Super Bowl trophies and boasts a franchise-influencing quarterback in Tom Brady.

“Robert Kraft dropped by and told me he thought Sam Bradford was really good and impressive and really putting the ball in pinpoint places that make you a winner,” said Kroenke of the Patriots owner. “And that coming from him? That’s good.”

Bradford did that. It was as if he played with lasers of floodlights upon him. And with each pass, he crafted a swank script.

It was his first NFL start. It did not matter to him or his teammates that it was preseason. When you are coming off a 1-15 season, like the Rams are, each fresh moment is a chance to shake free from that disaster, to create a new order, a new mindset.

Winning 36-35 like the Rams did over the Patriots meant something to the Rams.

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