Sharapova one-upped her appearance in last year’s final where she lost to Kim Clijsters after holding three match points. The Russian also improved to 11-0 this year in three-set matches after outlasting Jankovic in what was the longest final on the WTA tour this year.

Best headline of the week from Canada’s National Post: “Anderson drops a piano on Murray at Rogers Cup”…

The Western & Southern Open features 18 of the Top 20 women’s players, with seeds Caroline Wozniacki, Vera Zvonareva, Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova, Li Na, Petra Kvitova, Francesca Schiavone, Marion Bartoli, Andrea Petkovic, Samantha Stosur, Agnieszka Radwanska, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Jelena Jankovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanovic, and Peng Shuai.

“The only reason why I kind of heard about it was because Ryan wrote an apology to my manager to me saying he was misquoted. I like Ryan as a guy, as a player, as a kid. Everything gets blown out of proportion. I think that’s his opinion. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter much to me because I know what I need to do to beat those guys. He didn’t even need to write me a letter, but he did. So that was very nice of him.”

Sharapova under stress in the third set lost her trademark “Byouooooooooo! Byouooooooooo!” shrieks when hitting the ball, looking for Clijsters to put her out of her misery, and graciously shaking hands and offering congratulations at the net.

I think it is important to shed light on the effort that under girds these events and makes a sport we all enjoy possible. Tennis tournaments also provide an opportunity to appreciate the brilliant eccentricities of human behavior (I don’t just mean the guy juggling while walking on stilts at Cincinnati either).

“I think the special part [is] winning for the first time as a dad. It’s a great thing. Gets me going emotionally a little bit, because I know it’s been a wonderful summer,” Federer said. “I really had the feeling today I could mix it up the way I wanted to. That then gives me a lot of confidence. I was playing great from the beginning to the end.”

Murray is the defending champ (d. Djokovic), and the Bryans in doubles; Blake back from a foot injury; Del Potro has got to be tired; nice Q effort by Ljuby; potential Roddick vs. Federer quarterfinal.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been in this sort of final,” she said. “I’m so thrilled to play this kind of match and beat the number one player in the world.”

Clijsters will next face Swiss veteran Patty Schnyder, who beat Gisela Dulko 6-4, 6-0. Clijsters is 5-2 career against Schnyder.

“Q: What is the best piece of advice you would give to a junior tennis player, hoping to become a professional? (Michael Stich walks into the room saying: ‘Sex, Drugs, & Rock ‘n Roll!’) There we go, Michael Stich just came up with some crackers right there…It might be ok for a while…I know Michael Stich tried that and he won Wimbledon…Best advice? Well, I think you have to learn to be very patient and learn how to play on clay. I think it’s a very good grounding for players.”…