WTA Cage Match - Eight Players Enter Four Leave

Punters would be advised to take Mauresmo to emerge into the semifinals with Clijsters rather than Pierce due to Mary's shaky injury problems since the US Open, and the toll they will have taken on her confidence. Mauresmo on the other hand if just coming off the Philly title, and holds the edge over her countrywoman in their head-to-head.

Davenport and Sharapova are clear favorites in the Green Group against Schnyder and Petrova, who are 7-12 and 3-13 respectively against their group mates. The defending champion Sharapova is truly the green one in the group, playing only eight matches (6-2) against her fellow group members, while the veteran Davenport is an impressive 15-4 against the three.

Sharapova, who needs to be 100 percent to emerge into the semis, says the pec and thumb injuries are better but round robin play will bring out the hard truth for many players this week.

Those players with career shut-out records vs. fellow competitors at this year's Championships are Clijsters 3-0 over Pierce, Sharapova 3-0 over Petrova, and Davenport 6-0 over Petrova in lifetime tour meetings. Petrova, if you haven't figured it out, is the doormat of this year's championships and will likely go 0-3 if she competes at all due to injury.

Injury or illness worries dog half the field, with problems over the last two weeks causing tournament withdrawals by Sharapova (chest muscle, thumb), Petrova (heel), Davenport (flu), and Pierce (leg). Schnyder also has a cut on her hand from a racquet-bouncing accident.

When you're missing three of your four slam champions at the end of the year due to injuries, you'd think someone at the WTA would be concerned, but the governing organization's stance remains 'These injuries are just a cra-dazy coincidence! Here, have a scantily-clad Maria Sharapova bobblehead doll!'

Last year's final was also an injury-laden affair, with Serena Williams gamely fighting through shoulder pain in a three-set loss to Sharapova.

If history is a guide, look for an incident-filled week in L.A. featuring plentiful chokes from the French brigade, injury pull-outs from the Russians, psychotic crowd-chastising from the Swiss, painful-looking splits from the Belgian, and a good deal of cheering (from the seats that aren't empty) for the lone American in L.A.

Former champs in the field are Sharapova (2004), Clijsters (2003-02), and Davenport (1999).

Richard Vach is a senior writer for Tennis-X.com.