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** Masha News and Articles! ** Vol. 2

490K views 5K replies 229 participants last post by  jameshazza 
#1 ·
Hi everyone :wavey:

Thought maybe we could use a thread here to post all the news, interviews, and articles we find on Masha. :)

I just got my new Tennis Week magazine and Maria is on the cover again (she was also on the March cover). :eek:

If they haven't been posted already, I'll scan in the pics and article and post them here later.
 
#5 ·
Sharapova to Open Play on Tuesday, July 27
STANFORD, CA (http://www.bankofthewestclassic.com/) – The 2010 Bank of the West Classic announced today that three-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova will be the featured evening match on Tuesday, July 27 at 7 pm.


Sharapova’s opponent will not be known until the 2010 draw is announced on Saturday, July 24.


With three Grand Slam championships and 22 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles titles to her credit Maria Sharapova is one of the most popular and successful tennis players in the world. The former World No. 1, and future Hall of Famer, has already won two titles in three finals appearances this year.


Tickets for the 2010 Bank of the West Classic can be purchased by calling the box office at 866-WTA-TIXS (866-982-8497) or by logging on to http://www.bankofthewestclassic.com./ Single-session tickets for the tournament's opening round start at just $26.


The player field at the 2010 Bank of the West Classic, which will be played July 26 – August 1 at Stanford University, is once again loaded with many of the world’s top players.


The tournament will host three of the top-10 ranked players in the world, 12 of the top-30 overall, and a plethora of players that have been among the last four competing at numerous Grand Slam tournaments.


In addition to Sharapova, the tournament field includes 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic, 2008 Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva, 2010 Wimbledon finalist Vera Zvonareva, 2010 French Open finalist Samantha Stosur, 2010 Australian Open semifinalist Zheng Jie, 2009 US Open semifinalist Yanina Wickmayer, 2008 Australian Open semifinalist Daniela Hantuchova, 2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli and two-time Grand Slam semifinalist Kimiko Date Krumm.


And if that wasn’t enough, the doubles draw will feature three-time Grand Slam champion Lindsay Davenport playing with Liezel Huber, the world’s No. 1 ranked doubles player.


Tickets for the 2010 Bank of the West Classic can be purchased by calling the box office at 866-WTA-TIXS (866-982-8497) or by logging on to http://www.bankofthewestclassic.com./ Single-session tickets for the tournament's opening round start at just $26.


The 2010 Bank of the West Classic will feature a 30-player singles draw and 16-team doubles draw. The official tournament draw, and first round match-ups, will be announced on Saturday, July 24.


In addition to individual session tickets, full-week packages start at just $575 and include tickets to all 13 sessions, a pass to the exclusive Grand Marnier Plaza Club and an invitation to the Meet the Players Party. Those who purchase a pair of seats will also receive a weeklong VIP parking pass and a Bank of the West Classic Tournament program.


The Bank of the West Classic is also offering several weekend packages starting at $240.

Entering its 40th year the Bank of the West Classic is the longest running women-only professional tennis tournament in the world. The list of past champions of the event reads like a “Who's Who” of women's tennis including Lindsay Davenport, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Andrea Jaeger, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters.


The event is owned and operated by IMG and serves as the opening women's event of the Olympus US Open Series. Qualifying will be held July 24-25 and is free to the public.

Log on to http://www.bankofthewestclassic.com/ for more information.






ABOUT THE BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC: The Bank of the West Classic is the longest-running women-only professional tennis tournament in the world and is the first stop of the Olympus US Open Series. A Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Premier event, the Bank of the West Classic features a 30-player singles draw and a 16-team doubles draw with total prize money of $700,000. Held on Stanford University's campus at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium since 1997, former champions include: Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Andrea Jaeger, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams. The Bank of the West Classic is owned and operated by IMG.


ABOUT BANK OF THE WEST: Based in San Francisco, $61 billion-asset Bank of the West (www.bankofthewest.com) offers a full range of business, corporate, personal, trust and international banking services. For the third year in a row, Bank of the West has been ranked "highest in customer satisfaction in retail banking" in California by J.D. Power and Associates. The Bank operates more than 700 branch locations and commercial banking offices in 19 Western and Midwestern states. Bank of the West's holding company, BancWest Corporation, is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, among the six strongest banks in the world, according to Standard & Poor's.
 
#14 ·
masha was rusty at WTT and maybe sasha's presence distracts her
i'm sure she doesn't try hard

doubles is good for her to train net, she need it to win one day RG

or maybe she injured herself during training sessions nobody know...

hope for yanina; maria will play the doubles
 
#15 ·
Report of the WTT thing...
Breakers finally beat Explorers
by MARK GARCIA
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
7/21/2010
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38351094
Not even Maria Sharapova could salvage the Newport Beach Breakers' season Tuesday night.
Newport Beach's marquee player played a role in the Breakers' thrilling come-from-behind 19-18 victory over the Kansas City Explorers, but it was too little too late as the team was eliminated from the playoffs following Springfield's 24-17 win over Sacramento Tuesday.
Newport Beach improved to 5-7 with the win, but trail second-place Kansas City (7-5) by two games with two matches remaining. Newport Beach can tie Kansas City, but the Explorers own the tiebreaker over the Breakers by virtue of winning three of its four matches against each other. Only the top two teams from each conference advance to the postseason.
"We're out, but we don't want to have a losing season," said Breakers coach Trevor Kronemann. "If we can win the next two (matches) and finish .500, then that's our goal."
Newport Beach trailed 15-13 heading into the match's final set, but Lester Cook and David Martin teamed up to win the men's doubles, 5-3, over hard-hitting Australian Samuel Groth and Ricardo Mello, to tie the match at 18-18 and send it into a Super Tiebreaker.
Cook and Martin trailed throughout the tiebreaker and faced two match points at 6-4 before rallying to win the final three points and the match.
"This is what's great about Team Tennis," said Martin, "the drama and excitement of going down to the final point."

The win overshadowed a somewhat lackluster performance by Sharapova, who teamed up with Martin to lose the mixed doubles set before falling 5-0 in singles to Jarmila Groth. She did win the women's doubles set with Marie-Eve Pelletier, 5-3.
"I didn't play well in singles, but that's the great thing about team sports. You rely on your teammates to pick you up on your off days," said Sharapova, who was cheered on by her mom and her boyfriend, Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic.
Sharapova praised the play of Groth.
"She hit the ball really well and didn't give me time to adjust," she said.
 
#17 ·
Maria's new racquet?


Prince Delivers a Match Point With The EX03 100
Posted by Heather Millward Jul 22, 04:59 PM to gear : -
Now we don’t claim to be Andre Agassi or one of the Williams sisters, but we do enjoy an occasional game of tennis. And even though we don’t have the expertise those players bring to the court, we feel we have a semi-decent grip on the game, enough to enjoy some pretty great racquets in the recent past.

Prince introduces the EX03 Black 100 tennis racquet which is replacing the Speedport Black. This version is offers their patented Energy Channel technology to carry you through and deliver (hopefully) your “A” game. The Energy Channel technology is comprised of a sculpted groove in the frame that lends your shots lots of power with minimal effort- in theory. It is also supposed to increase your spin by up to 25%. Big claims, perhaps, but we were fairly satisfied with performance. We must say, we could definitely tell a difference as far as the acceleration goes and the ball boost was a definite plus. Spin, though, wasn’t affected quite so much.

With the patented Tuning System a player can adjust the feel of the racquet with a choice between either the hole or port inserts. If you desire a more comfortable feel, a larger sweet spot, and more string dampening, use the port insert. If you prefer a more crisp response with added string feedback and the usual sweet spot, use the hole version instead. If you are wondering what the difference is, the string ports are open and string holes are more like traditional grommets, as there is a small hole that the string is threaded through. They don’t fill the ports in completely, though, so the increase in aerodynamics will still be there supposedly. The EX03 comes with port inserts.

The EX03 has a 100 square inch head size and a strung weight of 11.4 ounces which correlates to large amounts of spin and power from the baseline without losing control. This is perfect for players 3.5+ but advanced players (like Maria Sharapova, who uses this model) aren’t necessarily cut of the equation; they’re likely to appreciate the balance. We take an approach to tennis that goes pretty much like this: step up and hit the ball on the rise, and pound it back deep and hard. The EXO3 100 was rock solid, and we were able to stand substantially closer to the baseline and take half- or three-quarter swings at deep balls and pound them back with complete confidence in a baseline rally.

For a smaller and lighter version, we would recommend checking out the Prince EX03 Black Team 100 with is similar but with less weight (280g instead of 305g). You can purchase Prince gear at Amazon for around $185-$195 depending on the grip size. It’s a reasonable price for an extremely competitive racquet.
http://www.trulyobscure.com/article/726/prince-delivers-a-match-point-with-the-ex03-100
 
#22 ·
Yanina Wickmayer: Looks like doubles with Maria won’t happen. The WC was for top 10 (not top 20 as they do in singles). A stupid rule. We are both with the same agency IMG so we will try to play somewhere else at some point.
Seems like IMG messed up and the other WCs had already been given out...
 
#26 ·
me too. :)
 
#28 ·
from FB:We had a nice short flight into Stanford yesterday afternoon and practised in the evening. This is a great little tournament so if you live in the area you should check it out.
wow she need flight to go to stanford:confused:
isn't she in california these days
 
#30 ·
http://www.onthebaselinetennisnews.com/

Published by Chris Oddo on Jul 26, 2010 | Print |

What’s it like to watch a Sharapova practice session up close and personal? Find out Chris Oddo’s take on the former world number one’s game in his latest article, live from Stanford’s Bank of the West Classic!


Before I get to into the details of the WTA’s All Access media hour (which featured the top four seeds in the draw), I’ll take a moment to share some of the brilliance I saw again today out on the practice courts.

- Maria Sharapova hitting backhand after crosscourt backhand, each one whizzing about 3 inches above the net. Awestruck is the word that comes to mind, and each time she made contact the pop of the racquet made the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Note to self: Never ever convince yourself into thinking you could last on the court with a professional tennis player, not even for one single rally.


;)
 
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