I feel for Maria

I caught her loss to Venus Williams on TV. Wow, I've respect for this girl. She plays with heart. You can see her passion for the game. She has the heart of a champion. I'm impressed with her tenacity to improve herself. She self-criticizes, but even as she does, she knows that she will surely overcome her setbacks.

She'll be fine. She will be number one in time.

From the SFGate:

"I'm obviously very sad," she said. "This tournament means a lot to me, more than any other tournament. I guess there are more years to come."

The precocious Russian hasn't reached a major final since her surprising title run at Wimbledon a year ago. She still has a good chance to overtake Davenport for the No. 1 ranking during the upcoming hard-court season, but remains eager to improve.

"I need to be stronger," she said. "The stronger I get, the bigger my serve will be, the easier it will be for me to maybe hold serve and get more free points. But at 18, I don't think it's possible to have a huge consistent serve. I know with hard work and practice and repetition it will get bigger and stronger and more accurate."

At No. 13 last year, Sharapova became the lowest-seeded player to win the women's championship when she beat Serena Williams in the final. At No. 14, Venus is seeded even lower and, for a change, won't have to face her sister for the title.