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Sharapova faces up to six weeks out with elbow injury

Maria Sharapova faces up to six weeks out of action due to an elbow injury, organizers of next week\’s Sony Ericsson Open said yesterday.
The three-times grand slam champion was due to compete in the event at Key Biscayne, Miami but an MRI scan revealed a bone bruise on her right elbow.
Organisers said in a statement that the Russian, who won earlier this year in Memphis but had an early exit at Indian Wells on Sunday, was expected to miss three-to-six weeks of competition.
World number two Dinara Safina and 2008 Sony Ericsson men\’s champion Nikolay Davydenko have also withdrawn from this year\’s Miami event. Russian Safina is suffering a back injury while Davydenko has a left wrist fracture.
Five-times champion Serena Williams and her sister Venus headline the women\’s field while Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal top a strong men\’s field.

Media rips into Woods

Tiger Woods\’ planned return to golf at the U.S. Masters drew plenty of criticism from the international press yesterday with the most scathing comments from Britain.
 
Daily Mirror columnist Oliver Holt questioned the top-ranked golfer\’s reasons for coming back to play at Augusta National.
\”How typical of the man to hijack the world\’s most famous golf tournament,\” Holt wrote. \”How could he turn Augusta into a circus like this? Does his vanity know no limits?\”
Woods crashed his SUV outside his Florida home in November, an accident that set off sordid tales of extramarital affairs.
\”When he finally sticks his head above the parapet before a hungry media at Augusta National, don\’t be surprised if he refuses to talk about anything relating to matters that predate February 19 on the ingenuous grounds that he has already dealt with that,\” Douglas Lowe wrote in the Scottish paper The Herald.
The Daily Telegraph\’s Mark Reason called Woods a liar for making his return so soon after last month\’s apology.
In the Toronto Star, columnist Dave Perkins made fun of Woods\’ affairs.
\”So that\’s what Tiger Woods meant when he said he would be fighting the temptations: He\’s coming back to golf at a club that doesn\’t allow women,\” Perkins wrote. \”Bada-boom.\”
Not everyone attacked the American, however.
Karl MacGinty of the Irish Independent wrote: \”Tiger\’s comeback will rival that of legendary heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali as the world tunes in to see the greatest-ever golfer face the most harrowing challenge of his career.\”

Nadal advances to last eight at ATP tournament


John Isner of the U.S. shakes hands with Rafael Nadal (L) of Spain at the conclusion of their match at the Indian Wells ATP tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California March 17, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Venus Williams advances at Sony Ericsson Open


VenusWilliams of the U.S. stretches to return the ball to Slovakia\’s Hantuchova during their match at the Sony Ericsson Open tennis tournament in Key Biscayne, Florida, March 29, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Zhang sets sights on Maruyama

Zhang Lianwei will have one eye on long-time Japanese rival Shigeki Maruyama as the 44-year-old competes as part of a powerful Chinese contingent at this week\’s $1 million Luxehills Chengdu Open, OneAsia\’s season-opening event.

Zhang Lianwei (left) will have one eye on long-time Japanese rival Shigeki Maruyama (right) when he competes as part of a powerful Chinese contingent at this week\’s $1 million Luxehills Chengdu Open. DAVID PAUL MORRIS and SAM GREENWOOD / Agence France-Presse

Following Liang Wenchong\’s early confirmation, 50 Chinese pros, including Zhang, rising star Alex Wu Ashun and eight-time China Tour winner Li Chao, will tee up at Luxehills International Country Club.
However, as Zhang prepares to compete at Luxehills for the first time, he will be looking out for a famous face he first encountered 20 years ago.
\”Luxehills should be a really great event, especially as it\’s the first OneAsia event of the year but also because of so many star players, like Shigeki Maruyama. We are of the same generation,\” Zhang said.
\”I first met him at the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing and also played against him in the Visa Dynasty Cup in 2003.\”
Zhang helped Asia convincingly beat Japan at Mission Hills in the latter team competition, but it was Maruyama who won gold at the 1990 Asiad. Four years later, Zhang won silver in Hiroshima and turned pro later that year after having won his third China Amateur Open.
Zhang and Maruyama have enjoyed stellar careers and finished last year in good form. Zhang shot a third-round 63 and eventually finished runner-up to Liang in OneAsia\’s Midea China Classic last October while Maruyama won the Golf Nippon Series JT Cup, the Japan Tour\’s season-ending event.
Zhang, who has won 19 pro titles and was the first Chinese to win a European Tour event and compete in a major, is keen to show the many loyal fans of Chinese golf\’s trailblazer that he\’s still able to compete with Asia-Pacific\’s best.
\”We have a lot of Chinese players competing at Luxehills, including many of our best ones, so this will be avery competitive tournament,\” Zhang said. \”I won in Chengdu many years ago, in the early 1990s, and it has been so many years since I\’ve been there, so I\’m looking forward to a fantastic event.\”
Wu, who is set to follow Zhang and Liang on to golf\’s world stage, is also excited about OneAsia\’s season opener, which also features Australians Craig Parry and Scott Strange and South Korean sensation Kim Kyung-tae.
Still seeking his breakthrough win, the determined 24-year-old had three top-10s on the Asian Tour and finished runner-up at the Dell Championship in Xiamen last year in only his second season as a pro.
\”Luxehills will be my first event in China this year. I changed my swing during the winter and I\’m now getting my game back, so I hope to have a good score,\” said Wu, who was set to play in a China Tour event at Luxehills last June but withdrew after suffering an injury during a practice round.
\”There are so many famousplayerscoming to Chengdu, which is exciting. Besides the Australians, Koreans and Japanese,we\’ll have one of the strongest Chinese line-ups inan international event in China, so this gives me extra motivation.\”
Li, who won the 2005 and 2007 Order of Merit on the China Tour, will also be motivated after a closing 67 put him 14th at October\’s Midea China Classic, his best OneAsia result.
Liao Guiming, the 2008 China Tour Order of Merit winner, Wu Weihuang, winner of last year\’s Dell Championship, and big-hitters Yuan Hao and James Su Dong are among China\’s other top hopes along with Chen Jian, whose victory at last year\’s Luxehills Golf Championship was his first pro title.
Tsai Chi-huang, the 2008 Luxehills champion and only the third player to win Chinese Taipei\’s three \’majors\’, is among a five-man Chinese Taipei contingent that also includes Yeh Wei-tze, Chan Shi-chang, Chen Che-hao and Lu Wen-hsiung.

Federer advances to next round at Sony Ericsson Open

Switzerland\’s Roger Federer returns a shot to France\’s Florent Serra during their match at the Sony Ericsson Open tennis tournament in Key Biscayne, Florida, March 29, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Nadal defeats David Nalbandian at Sony Ericsson Open


Spain\’s Rafael Nadal celebrates winning a point against Argentina\’s David Nalbandian during their match at the Sony Ericsson Open tennis tournament in Key Biscayne, Florida, March 28, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Nadal eases through as Djokovic falls in Miami


Spain\’s Rafael Nadal returns a shot to Taylor Dent of the U.S. during their match at the Sony Ericsson Open tennis tournament in Key Biscayne, Florida, March 26, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Djokovic loses to Rochus at Sony Ericsson Open

Former champion Novak Djokovic lost his opening match to Belgium\’s pocket rocket Olivier Rochus 6-2, 6-7 (7), 6-4 at the Sony Ericsson Open on Friday.
Rochus, who stands just 1.67 meters and ranks 59th in the world, fought like a tiger throughout the contest, sweeping the first set and battling hard in the second under a barrage of break points.
The underdog was broken leading 5-4 and serving for the win in the third, but the Belgian broke back for victory as Djokovic sailed a forehand over the baseline after nearly three hours on court plus the nearly one-hour rain delay.
The frustrated Serb was left to ponder 10 double-faults and six broken serves.
In men\’s play, No. 24 Ivo Karlovic hit 28 aces, held every service game and beat Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3. Karlovic had been 0-6 previously at Key Biscayne.
No. 12 Juan Carlos Ferrero and No. 15 David Ferrer also won. Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick were among those with matches scheduled later Friday.
Women\’s seventh seed Jelena Jankovic followed up her WTA Indian Wells title with an opening victory, defeating Mariya Koryttseva 6-4, 6-0 to save face for Serbia.
No. 2-seeded Caroline Wozniacki rallied past qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Defending champion Victoria Azarenka won her opening match, beating Alexandra Dulgheru 6-3, 6-2.

Ivanovic turns corner with first win since Jan.

Former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic beat French Pauline Parmentier 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday to reach the third round of the WTA and ATP Miami Masters. It was her first win since January.
The Serbian overcame six nervous double-faults, losing serve twice but also breaking twice in the victory.
Ivanovic had stood number one in the world after lifting the Roland Garros trophy in 2008, but she suffered a long time out of form following that career high point and only ranked 58 in the world now.
Her triumph over French qualifier Parmentier was her first in the Miami main draw since winning a second-round contest in 2008 and snapped a four-match losing streak, the longest for Ivanovic since turning professional.