It has been a grueling competition so far for the ladies in Olympic Tennis. The ladies have played some of the best matches in recent Olympics and it has been very exciting to watch how the style of certain players changes from match to match. It is especially exciting to watch when they are playing fellow country women or other top ranked players that we rarely ever get to see on the court. Maria Sharapova, who missed her chance at the Beijing Olympics due to a shoulder injury, has played phenomenally throughout these Olympic Games.
Sharapova has climbed her way through the impressive field of All Star tennis players starting on July 28th beating out Peer, then Robson in round two. She picked up again in round 3, knocking off Lisicki, to find herself in the quarter finals against one of her biggest rivals… Clijester. She won by a final score of 2 games to 0. Entering the semifinals, Sharapova was matched up against Kirilenko, her Russian teammate. Sharapova beat Kirilenko 6-2, 6-3, granting her a spot in the finals and the chance to win the Gold.
On Saturday, the other semi-finals will be played setting up the final match. This game will be a very fast paced game between the #1 ranked woman´s player, Victoria Azarenka and the All Star Wimbledon Champion from the United States, Serena Williams. Most places out there have Williams as the favorite in this game. But from what I can see, Sharapova vs. Williams would make a little better finals match simply based on their style of play. They know each other very well, and have battled back and forth during the last couple of months in all the big tennis tournaments.
Sharapova also has something to prove. But either way, I am sure she is preparing for both players equally. After all is said and done, this will be one of the most exciting tennis finals we have seen in the past. More so, because there will be the real #1 tennis player on the line as well as one of those gold medals to wear.
