Sharapova Closing in on No.1

[erickin (單身公害．．．)]

BERLIN, Germany - Russian sensation Maria Sharapova could add another
prestigious title this week to her already-impressive resume... World No.1.

Victory at this week's Qatar Total German Open will not only provide the
Wimbledon champion with her 10th career Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title
(and second Tier I), it will also earn her enough points to overtake Lindsay
Davenport for the coveted No.1 ranking.

Sharapova is currently 277 points behind Davenport, who is not playing in
Berlin this week. As such, Sharapova needs to win the title (228 points) and
collect 50 bonus points in her five matches. Bonus points are awarded to
players based on the ranking of their defeated opponent.

While a runner-up finish or worse would not be enough to reach No.1 this week,
Sharapova has another shot at next week's $1.3 million Telecom Italia Masters,
where she will again be seeded No.1 in Davenport's absence.

Working in Sharapova's favor is her top-seeding at this week's $1.3 million,
Tier I event in Berlin and her impressive 22-3 record so far this year. However
, in five career attempts in Sony Ericsson WTA Tour clay court events,
Sharapova has only reached one quarterfinal, that being at last year's Roland
Garros.

Should Sharapova, who turned 18 on April 19, reach No.1 in the coming weeks,
she'll be the fourth youngest woman to hold the top spot in computer rankings
history (since 1975). Martina Hingis (1997), Monica Seles (1991) and Tracy
Austin (1980) were all 17 years old when they first gained the No.1 ranking,
while Steffi Graf was 18 years, two months when she rose to No.1 in 1987.

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推 ride:嗯，真期待！
推 gary4:不是這禮拜就下禮拜囉...應該是遲早的事^^