Tennis’ Drama Queens Will Take Center Stage

The aspiring actress on the Women’s Tennis Assn. tour was supposed to be the script-seeking Serena Williams.

That is, until Maria Sharapova showed up and started emoting, treating early-round victories at the Australian Open as though they were epic finals.

This isn’t anything new. You may remember how the 17-year-old Russian dramatically crumpled to the court at the season-ending WTA Championships at Staples Center in November after beating Williams in the final, almost as if she was acting out a death scene in an Italian opera.

Today’s quarterfinal victory in the Australian Open at Melbourne Park was somewhere on the emotional scale between the Los Angeles final and a third-round blowout. After the fourth-seeded Sharapova defeated fifth-seeded countrywoman Svetlana Kuznetsova, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, in 2 hours 17 minutes, she dropped her racket, thrust her arms in the air and blew a few kisses.

That was it after the victory in sweltering conditions. After all, Sharapova had to keep something in reserve for her semifinal opponent, none other than No. 7 Serena, a rematch not just of the WTA final but also of last year’s Wimbledon final, which Sharapova won in straight sets.

The two women’s quarterfinals were played with the retractable roof open at Rod Laver Arena despite temperatures in the 90s.

“I kept thinking back in my off-season, how hard it was when I was training physically, and I thought I couldn’t go anymore,” said Sharapova. “But I knew I had some more even though my body thought I didn’t.”

Conditions worsened as the day went on, and the roof was finally closed for the men’s quarterfinal between No. 4 Marat Safin of Russia and No. 20 Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia. Safin, a finalist here last year, won, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2, and will play either defending champion Roger Federer of Switzerland or Andre Agassi in the semifinals.

The heat hardly seemed to bother Williams, who has lost one set in five matches and had little trouble against No. 2 Amelie Mauresmo of France, winning, 6-2, 6-2, in 1 hour 11 minutes.

On paper, that may look like an upset. It wasn’t. Mauresmo has one victory against Williams in 10 matches. She was limited today because of tight abductor muscles on both sides, hitting 27 unforced errors to 15 for Williams. The dull encounter was nothing close to their two three-set matches last year, at Wimbledon and Staples Center.

Still, Williams lifted her game from the previous round, in which she needed three sets to get past Nadia Petrova of Russia. Mauresmo didn’t view it quite the same way. “Well, she had nothing to do but just put the ball back in. You can’t really judge her game today, I think,” the oft-injured Mauresmo said.

Williams did the judging and grading herself, taking offense at the suggestion the Williams sisters were “declining.” Former No. 1-ranked Venus lost in the fourth round to Alicia Molik of Australia, and has not won a Slam since 2001. Serena, also a former No. 1 player, offered a spirited defense, detailing the numerous injuries suffered by the sisters.

“I don’t appreciate that language, to be honest with you,” she said. “I’m tired of not saying anything, but that’s not fair. We’ve been practicing really hard. We’ve had some serious injuries. I mean, I’ve had [knee] surgery. And after surgery, I got to the finals of Wimbledon. I don’t know too many people that have done that. ... She [Venus] played a player yesterday that just played out of her mind.

“So, no, we’re not declining. We’re here. I don’t have to win this tournament to prove anything. I know that I’m out here and I know that I’m one of the best players out here.”

To that end, she said she didn’t view the match against Sharapova as a chance for revenge. “No, I look at it as a chance to be in the finals here again. But I’ve got to play that one first,” Williams said.

Nerves played a part in her loss to Sharapova at Wimbledon, Williams said.

“To be honest, I feel like I don’t have anything to lose,” she said. “I think I was way too nervous at Wimbledon. I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t breathe. Sometimes you want it [so] bad that you just freak yourself out.”

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Semi-Tough Matchup

Serena Williams will face Maria Sharapova in the women’s semifinals at the Australian Open. The two last met in the final of the WTA Championships at Staples Center in November. Sharapova leads the series, 2-1:

*--* Year Event Surface Rnd Winner Score 2004 Miami Hard R16 Williams 6-4, 6-3 2004 Wimbledon Grass Final Sharapova 6-1, 6-4 2004 WTA Championships Hard Final Sharapova 4-6, 6-2, 6-4

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