In the Acura Classic final on Sunday, world No. 2 Maria Sharapova of Russia won her first title of the year overcoming world No. 17 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland in three sets 6-2 3-6 6-0.

What I can say about the match is that Schnyder, seeded 11th, was excellent on numerous occasions throughout the final, but the player with consistent domination was top-seeded Sharapova. Read more »

To defend her Acura Classic title, top-seeded Maria Sharapova of Russia will have to overcome 11th seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland.

In the semifinals, Maria Sharapova beat fellow Russian Anna Chakvetadze 6-3 6-2 and in that way ended the third seed’s hard-court run of 12 straight victories. However, soon after the loss to Sharapova, the 20-year-old Chakvetadze together with Victoria Azarenka of Belarus reached the doubles final by defeating Ai Sugiyama of Japan and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 6-2, 3-6, 10-6. Read more »

In contemporary tennis world, personalized sneakers are a must-have. The customization is a symbol of success, but can also minimize confusion in the locker room – Jelena Jankovic won’t accidentally put on Shahar Peer’s tennis shoes any more, since Reebok has customized the gear of both players. Maria Sharapova, of course, isn't legging behind, she has her distinctively designed sneakers as well.

Anyway, if I were a tennis player, I wouldn't have written my name on my gear. I don't like self-centered people in love with their name, their image in a picture, people who promote themselves all the time. Ok, I understand that in tennis it's all part of the industry, but still,… it's kind of cheesy. (Tennis Served Fresh and Tennis Country, thanks for the inspiration)

We might have the pleasure of watching an encounter of two second ranked tennis players Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova. That should be interesting! The exhibition match could happen in the inaugural Merdeka Tennis Challenge at the Malawati Stadium in Shah Alam on November 18-25.

Actually, Rafael Nadal will probably play either against Marcos Baghdatis or Maria Sharapova (the two are expected to participate in the event, but are not confirmed yet). What is certain is that two big names Roger Federer and Pete Sampras will meet in one of the exhibition matches on November 22. (source: NST Online)

Maria Sharapova was criticized a lot lately since she withdrew from the Fed Cup on two occasions in 2007; actually the 20-year-old is yet to make a Fed Cup appearance for her native country.

Both times the highest-ranked Russian player pulled out because of injuries, but after the second withdrawal, which was at the last minute, Russian tennis officials accused her of putting her own interests ahead of her country.

"I'm telling you, just forget about all these promises," said Russia's chief tennis coach Vladimir Kamelzon. "Her closest advisers are Americans and they would never allow her to play for Russia," he added. Read more »

Click here to check out who are currently the most beautiful female athletes and vote for your favorites. At the moment, they are all in the first round, but then they can advance to so called “Sexy 16”, “Elite Eight”, “Fab Four”, “Women’s Final”, and in the end one of them will be named the “Hottest Athlete”.

Out of WTA players there are Maria Sharapova, Daniela Hantuchova, Serena Williams, Ana Ivanovic, and Maria Kirilenko.

This short video is a compilation of Maria Sharapova's action during the ESPYs. You can see her giving an interview, talking about her shoulder injury and how she deals with it, there are also some backstage scenes after her winning both the awards she was nominated for, and some more.

Note: Masha doesn't want to reveal what her US Open dress looks like, but I'm sure it's unique and inspiring.

Maria Sharapova received two ESPYs Sunday night at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, "Best Female International Athlete" and "Best Female Tennis Player."

Serena Williams, Justine Henin, and Jelena Jankovic were also nominated, but won no awards. (photo via Down the Line)

On Tuesday night, Maria Sharapova attended the ESPY awards pre party held at The Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. Maria has been nominated for two awards: 'Best International Female Athlete' and 'Best Female Tennis Player'.

Other female tennis players nominated this year are Justine Henin, Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic. (photo via Uppix)

Here’s a story of what happened to Maria Sharapova at the airport in London.

Maria had been using num chucks to strengthen her shoulders, and she completely forgot that they were left in her tennis bag. Going through the security at the airport she was asked what she had in the tennis bag, and she didn’t name the num chucks, having no idea they were in the bag. Read more »