Sharapova Has Shot at Top Spot

Nestled between the injury woes of the WTA Tour and events depleted of star power is a potential history-making story in Carson.

Attention will turn to Maria Sharapova at the JPMorgan Chase Open at the Home Depot Center, which starts today, and whether the 18-year-old can become the top-ranked player in the world. To do so would be historic, not only for Sharapova, but for Russia.

She would be the first Russian woman to reach the top spot, though her countrywoman Anastasia Myskina came close, hitting No. 2 last fall.

Still, supplanting Lindsay Davenport at No. 1 won’t be as easy as previously thought. WTA Tour officials crunched the numbers and determined Sharapova would have to reach the semifinals and also needs to pick up 28 bonus points along the way.

Sharapova, who has not played on the tour since losing to eventual champion Venus Williams in the Wimbledon semifinals, has an opening-round bye and will face either her close friend and countrywoman Maria Kirilenko or wild card Marissa Irvin of Santa Monica in the second.

Looming in the third round could be Sania Mirza, a hard-hitting 18-year-old from India, or 16th-seeded Anna Chakvetadze of Russia, who reached the quarterfinals in Carlsbad.

The highest-seeded player in Sharapova’s quarter is ninth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, who was moved into the spot vacated by No. 7 Vera Zvonareva of Russia. Additional reshuffling was required Sunday when, as expected, Zvonareva and Akiko Morigami of Japan withdrew.

Zvonareva rolled her ankle in a doubles match Saturday at Carlsbad, and later in the day Morigami retired from her singles semifinal against Ai Sugiyama because of tendinitis in her right knee.

Because Zvonareva’s withdrawal came after the draw was made, there won’t be a No. 7 seeding. Possible semifinal opponents for Sharapova could be third-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia or Acura Classic champion Mary Pierce of France.

Injuries also took out defending champion Davenport (back) and two-time champion Serena Williams (ankle), who lost to Davenport in last year’s final. Sharapova is coming off an injury, having pulled out of the Carlsbad tournament because of a sore back.

Play on the Stadium Court begins tonight at 7. There will be matches on the outer courts, starting as early as 11 a.m., and admission to those matches is free, according to officials. The band Bowling for Soup will be playing after the first night session match on the Stadium Court.

It will be the opening concert of a music initiative at tennis tournaments launched by the WTA Tour and its sponsor, Sony Ericsson. There will be similar events just before tournaments in Toronto and New Haven, Conn.

“This is the first of many new things we’re doing in tennis,” said Dee Dutta of Sony Ericsson, talking about aiming for the 14-35 age group. “It’s great music.”

WTA chief executive officer Larry Scott said, jokingly: “The test is we have to make sure I haven’t heard of them. Then they pass the cool test.”

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Crush of Russians

The top four seeded players at the JPMorgan Chase Open are from Russia. There are no U.S. players seeded and the highest ranked American player in the draw is Lisa Raymond (No. 47):

1. Maria Sharapova: 2004 Wimbledon champion.

2. Svetlana Kuznetsova: 2004 U.S. Open champion.

3. Elena Dementieva: 2004 French and U.S. Open finalist.

4. Nadia Petrova: Two-time French Open semifinalist.