Maria Sharapova

I still lover her, but she should get another or new coach...she obviously has tuned the current coach out. Too many double faults as her shoulder gets tired out there...she should be doing better. Love the "grunt/scream" LOL

Way overrated. When comparing her to other players, she has good speed, but not much else. She also makes the most annoying sounds.

Maria is good as long as she does not come up against a great player. A few years back, she was rather negative about Kornikova and all the media attention on Anna's striking looks, but she's done exactly the same thing. It's possible that her focus on her external appearance on the court and what she wears has cost her an edge, but in my opinion, she will never be a match for players who have greater stamina and more power. During Wimbledon 05 and the Australian Open, she finally met the real Williams sisters.

Sharapova is 6'2" tall and with spike high heels is 6'7". That is way too Amazon. No thanks. And she's flat-chested.

I feel like a bit of an arm chair quarterback here, but Maria doesn't have my vote at #1. She has the offense in the serve and groundstrokes, but lacks the movement of Clijsters and the Williams sisters (esp. Serena before surgery). I get frustrated watching her because she gets impatient if she has to play any defense. It's a game that depends so much on a player's momentum. She also moves awkwardly at net and doesn't seem to use much strategy other than insisting that she can hit the ball harder than her opponent, no matter what. To me, this reeks of Bolleteri. A smart coach could route her talent more effectly, so hopefully her dad will butt out soon (apparently he's a bit of a jerk). She will win more Slams, but she's not the best out there just yet.

Do people always have to play the race card?

Wow, all the hate against the Black players? To compliment any white player, must you denigrate the Black ones to make your point. It must be really painful to see that with 1/15 of effort the Williams sisters are still in the top ten. Enjoy your flavor of the month porcelain dolls, I'll enjoy the Black queens. Before you scream "reverse racism" (as if there were such a thing. Look up the word "racism") I like Clijsters and Mary Pierce as well. For their tennis, guts and determination. That's what should count, but I guess it does in the tennis world...as long as you are not Black. You guys never change...

Good tennis player buy c'mon, the hype is over the top. She's only decent looking, but implants would change that.

she's got the strength, she's young but she needs to start winning more grand slams and tournaments, cause the oldies are taking them all. i think that she is like a one timer in grand slams but can win outside wta tournaments

While she was clearly overmatched versus Venus Williams in the 2005 Wimbledon semis, I continue to be impressed by her overall game. How a willowy 18-year-old can contend with the Williams' power is beyond me, and I believe she would have won vs. Venus if she had prevailed in that tough first set. Still, she will win more majors, and soon: few combine her powerful return game with the graceful speed and quickness she showed in last year's final. Oh, and she's stunningly gorgeous, but you didn't need me to tell you that.

OVERRATED. Like Kournikova, gets all the pub and attention strictly by flaunting her T&A.; Time will expose her for the total fake she is...

Gotta say, right out, that I know absolutely nothing about tennis, except that it bores me to tears. All I really know about Maria is that she's supposed to be as beautiful as Kournikova (in truth, I think she's much more lovely) but is a far superior player with a great future in front of her. I sorta feel guilty that I'm attracted to a girl young enough to be my daughter, but such is life. Anyway, at least she's now of legal age, so my unrequited longing is more guilt-free.

As Martina Hingis said, she is destined to be an athlete. Her mechanics are so powerful, consistent, almost nothing can go wrong when her concentration is bulls-eyed right on the match. She sometimes let oportunities go but you know, she is still young, she's learning. At this rate of her physical and mental growth, she is gonna have a very succesful life. SOMETIMES, during her interviews concerning her input about the other players, she replies with careless responses like, I could care less about it when someone asked her about the excitement between Serena VS. Venus in the Quarter-final match at the Nasdaq-100 open. Again she's young and she'll be more mature..I just don't like her father's attitude on the stands... SHES GIFTED.

A very good player, but is winning Wimbledon her only accomplishment?

From Russia with Love...she's a good player who's looks have helped her gain the attention of the media. She will become better (playing).

the stuff that all-time-best-champions are made of. young, giftet, ambitious, personality. we ll see to what its leading for her seen over couple of years. remembers a bit young graf, seles and capriati. besides that: wonderful style of playing. and beautiful.

I'D HIT IT!

Shes ok, but lets see her try beat serena when shes playing her best, she got lucky at wimbledon and got lucky at L.A

The most beautiful tennis player of all time. I just watched a match with her and some women ranked no. 3... and Sharapova stomped her. Did I say she is absolutely beautiful yet??? She lived in Russia for 6 years then has lived in Florida every since, I like her... and her family's judgement. Did I say she was beautiful yet???

Maria Sharapova is a player to watch. Her game is amazing. She plays with excitement and her loud screaming while playing is certainly worth entertainment value. She is very different from the Williams' sisters in style of play, and that proved very beneficial at Wimbledon 2004. As Wimbledon was only her first major title I am only giving her a rating of 3, but I'll change it when more titles start to come in, which I expect them to. The new Serena Williams-Sharapova rivalry is going to be exciting, especially at the '04 Olympics. It also replaces the boring (as of late) Lindsay Daveport-Serena Wiliams rivalry. Best of luck to Sharapova.

What's this name doing on here? I thought we were only rating human beings!

What a sizzling match against Serena. I first noticed her in R16 of Aus Open last year VS. Myskina. She's a ballsy little girl with groundstrokes to die for. You Go Girl.

This girl surprised me at how good she really is. For me she was the under-dog that stole the show at Wimbledon this year. At 17-years-old she has the maturity to stay in control, stay focused and have strong determination and confidence to be a winner. Her looks are not a major factor here and something she refuses to capitalise on as she knows the pitfalls this has been for previous players and how much this will affect and distract her game if she wishes to be a strong contender and be known as one of the greats. The way she plays reminds me of Martina Hingis. Her attitude is very refreshing with not the slightest hint of arrogance....YET! I predict great things for Maria Sharapova she played well in Wimbledon today. John McEnroe was stumped for words when she gained her composure in the last set to secure her win. Even Sarena Williams had to surrender to defeat and could do nothing, but praise her.

This overnight sensation has been constantly compared to Anna Kournikova -- they are both beautful blonde Russians with modeling contracts that preceded their tennis stardom. The difference between her and the Princess of Choke is that the 17 year old has backed up her initial attention with a Wimbledon title, outclassing Serena Williams in a straight sets final. Her go-for-broke style has been amazing of late, and she has remarkable poise on court considering she is a newcomer who needed a Wild Card to qualify for Wimbledon last year. Expect many more major titles from her -- she's sure to be great for the sport.

Kind of like Kournikova, but she has game.

I just watched this young lady play and masy I state that ' a beautiful, and talented porcelain doll gracfully dancing on the green.' Dan H