WTA Tour: Sharapova aiming for number one spot

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As the men look towards London, the women on the tennis tour are focusing on Singapore. Matt Banji reports.

Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova is hoping to achieve her lifelong dream of becoming WTA world number one by the end of the season.

Sharapova, 27, defeated reigning Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the final of the China Open, a victory that has elevated her into second place in the WTA rankings.

The Nyagan-born superstar, who had a tough time holding down Kvitova after the Czech won four consecutive games to force a decider, won the final set 6-3 to keep her hopes of claiming world top spot alive.

Currently, USA’s Serena Williams sits above Sharapova at world number one with 8645 points, 1965 above the Russian.

Should the American fail to defend her WTA title, she will forfeit 1500 of those points, leaving a 465-point gap between herself and Sharapova, who has no titles to defend and will not lose any points.

The five-time Wimbledon winner, 33, was forced to withdraw from the China Open due to a persistent knee injury, and if the American is unable to compete at the finals in Singapore, Sharapova would need just three wins to claim world number one.

At her best, Sharapova is more than capable of winning matches against all kinds of opposition, but any injury concerns or lack of form encountered by the Russian could potentially harm her quest to displace Williams.

The former US Open champion endured a highly frustrating Wimbledon campaign in the summer, making a shock exit at the hands of Germany’s Angelique Kerber.

Sharapova, who won the tournament in 2004, struggled to handle Kerber’s energy and tenacity, and eventually succumbed to a fourth-round defeat despite a late display of resistance that saw Kerber snatch victory after seven match points.

With the WTA finals set to be played on a hard surface, Maria Sharapova is faced with another concern. Former world number nine Andrei Chesnokov believes that his compatriot struggles on hard courts, claiming in an interview with the Russia and India Report that the star “has a completely different relationship with the hard court”, and that her victory rate on hard surfaces is “unacceptable for a strong player”.

However, the former Monte Carlo Open champion insists that there “has been progress in her game” as a result of her experienced new trainer Sven Groeneveld, who has previously coached Monica Seles, Mary Pierce and Caroline Wozniacki.

Much like Serena Williams, large chunks of Sharapova’s career have been plagued with tournament-terminating injuries. Last year, a shoulder problem forced the tennis ace to withdraw from the US Open, before the same injury denied her further involvement at the WTA Championships in Istanbul two months later.

However, this year things are looking slightly better for Sharapova injury-wise. The Russian appears to be in good health ahead of the final tournament of the season, and with the fate of her American rival Serena Williams still unknown, there is real hope for the Russian of securing the top spot.

If Williams is unable to compete due to injury, her nemesis could well take her place as world number one by the end of the season.

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