Maria Sharapova looking for a taste of success

Russians Maria Sharapova and Elena Dementieva will meet in Sunday's final after each won their respective semifinal matches on Saturday at the Rogers Cup.

Sharapova took down Alisa Kleybanova 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 to secure her spot in the finals and a chance to win her first title after 8 months of injury layoff.

Earlier, Dementieva defeated Serena Williams 7-6, 6-1 in 1 hour and 41 minutes.

This will be the 11th all-time meeting between Sharapova and Dementieva, with Sharapova leading the head-to-head series 8-2.

(Images via Yahoo! Sports)

Andy Murray kowtow to Roger Federer

There's just too much hype about Andy Murray.

From being called the 'true no.1' to believing that he can 'easily' beat Roger Federer in the upcoming US Open, can he really live up to the hype?

Last night, Federer proved that Murray can't.... perhaps not so soon...

Federer defeated Murray 6-2, 7-6 at the Cincinnati Masters semifinals and will meet Novak Djokovic in the final after the Serbian defeated Rafael Nadal 6-1, 6-4.

(Images via Yahoo! Sports)

Super Saturday's semifinals

It's going to be an explosive Saturday when all top 4 seeds at Cincinnati Masters collided in the semifinal matches tonight.

New world no.2 Murray will face no. 1 Roger Federer first.

Federer, who won this tournament in 2005 and 2007, extended his winning streak against Lleyton Hewitt to 13 matches with a 6-3, 6-4 win.

Murray, the defending champion, defeated 'lucky loser' Julien Benneteau 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Meanwhile third-ranked and second-seeded Rafael Nadal beat Tomas Berdych 6-4, 7-5, setting up a semifinals rematch with fourth-seeded Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic, who beat Nadal in straight sets in last year’s Cincinnati semifinal, won 6-4, 7-5 over Gilles Simon.

Nadal, playing just his second tournament since the French Open due to tendinitis in both knees, declared himself “very happy” with his progress.

In the women's singles, second-seeded Serena Williams breezed through to the semifinals of the Rogers Cup on Friday with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Lucie Safarova.

Williams will next face no. 4 Elena Dementieva, who advanced with a tough three-set win over Samantha Stosur.

In another semifinals, Alisa Kleybanova will face off with Maria Sharapova after a gruelling 6-7 (6), 7-6 (7), 6-2 win over Jelena Jankovic, while Sharapova overcame Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 7-6 (5).

(Via AP; Images via Yahoo! Sports)

Thailand Open 2009: Entry list, Paradorn Srichaphan

Paradorn Srichaphan, Danai Udomchoke

PTT Thailand Open (formerly known as ATP Thailand Open) is scheduled to run on the same week as the Malaysian Open, between September 26-October 4, 2009.

The player entry list was released on the same day as the Malaysian Open and equally impressive too. Here you go:

1 Nadal, Rafael ESP 3
2 Tsonga, Jo-Wilfried FRA 7
3 Simon, Gilles FRA 9
4 Querrey, Sam USA 26
5 Troicki, Viktor SRB 30
6 Sela, Dudi ISR 34
7 Melzer, Jurgen AUT 37
8 Petzschner, Philipp GER 39
9 Beck, Andreas GER 40
10 Santoro, Fabrice FRA 44
11 Zverev, Mischa GER 46
12 Becker, Benjamin GER 47
13 Nieminen, Jarkko FIN 52
14 Garcia-Lopez, Guillermo ESP 53
15 Benneteau, Julien FRA 55
16 Daniel, Marcos BRA 58
17 Isner, John USA 59
18 Safin, Marat RUS 61
19 Mayer, Leonardo ARG 65
20 (SE)
21 (SE)
22 (Q)
23 (Q)
24 (Q)
25 (Q)
26 (WC)
27 (WC)
28 (WC)

Alternates
1. Greul, Simon GER 66
2. Bellucci, Thomaz BRA 67
3. Ginepri, Robby USA 70
4. Hernych, Jan CZE 72
5. Koellerer, Daniel AUT 73
6. Lu, Yen-Hsun TPE 74
7. Crivoi, Victor ROU 75
8. Gabashvili, Teimuraz RUS 76
9. Zeballos, Horacio ARG 78
10. Luczak, Peter AUS 79
11. Kendrick, Robert USA 80
12. Korolev, Evgeny RUS 82
13. Srichaphan, Paradorn THA @82
14. Hernandez, Oscar ESP 84
15. Odesnik, Wayne USA 85

Is former world no.9 Paradorn Srichaphan ready to make a comeback since 2007?

Well, not quite so.

According to Srichaphan, he is not ready to make a comeback yet, but that doesn't mean he has effectively retired from tennis.

Married to former Miss Universe Natalie Glebova, Srichaphan had spent his time away from the tour motorcycling, appearing on a Thai sports TV show and most recently opening an Italian cuisine restaurant.

(Via menstennisforums.com, AP)