Mauresmo Walks Into WTA Philadelphia FinalPosted on November 7, 2004 World No. 2 Amelie Mauresmo, seeking to pass No. 1 Lindsay Davenport next week at the WTA Championships, received a hand Saturday in Philadelphia with a walkover against Russian marketing dream Maria "Cell Phone Mannequin" Sharapova in the semifinals.
Sharapova pulled prior to the match with an existing shoulder injury aggravated in the quarterfinals against Aussie rising star Alicia Molik. "I'm very disappointed I am not able to continue my play in Philadelphia," said Sharapova, who is hoping to rehab the shoulder to strength in time to compete at next week's WTA Championships in L.A. "I was having a really good tournament and I'm sure it will still be an exciting final weekend. I just wish I could be a part of it." It would have been the first meeting between Mauresmo and Sharapova, with their debut encounter now likely to occur at the year-end championships. Sharapova first sustained the shoulder injury at the Swisscom Challenge in Zurich two weeks ago. In the final Mauresmo will face No. 6 seed Vera "The Crying Game" Zvonareva, who defeated countrywoman and No. 7 seed Nadia Petrova 6-3, 7-6(2), and has already qualified for the year-end championships. Petrova won her lone meeting with Zvonareva at the 2003 French Open in three sets. The doubles final will be (3) Molik/Raymond vs. (1) Huber/Morariu. |
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