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Sharapova to Begin Quest for French-Wimbledon Double on Day 1


By Chris Oddo
 Photo Credit: Pascal Guyot/AFP/Getty Images
Sara Errani French Open
(June 24, 2012)—The last time we saw Maria Sharapova on Wimbledon’s Centre Court she was a picture of dejection. Dusted in the 2011 ladies’ singles final by a remarkably poised Petra Kvitova, a stunned Sharapova was left to wonder if her time to shine on tennis’s biggest stages had come and gone.

This year, after a few soul-quenching triumphs, she’s whistling a different tune.

Supremely confident after locking up the career Grand Slam in Paris two weeks ago, and sitting atop the WTA’s rankings once again, the 25-year-old will begin her quest to become the first woman to claim French Open and Wimbledon titles in the same year since Serena Williams in 2002.

But the 2004 Wimbledon champion, dominant as her form may be at the moment, is taking nothing for granted.

“I think it’s the toughest back to back Grand Slam-wise, no doubt,” Sharapova told reporters in a pre-tournament press conference on Saturday. “As much as you want to celebrate and enjoy [the French Open title], you come here and it’s like a whole new ballgame.”

Sharapova’s “whole new ballgame” will begin on Centre Court Monday when she faces Anastasia Rodionova of Australia. It should be a nice tune-up for the world No. 1 and 2004 Wimbledon champion, as she has dropped only 11 games in three previous tour-level main draw matches against Rodionova.

Sharapova will be one of many seeds to get their Wimbledon campaign underway tomorrow; in addition there will also be appearances from two of the most talked about unseeded players in the draw, Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters.

Clijsters will be tested early when she goes up against 18th-seeded Jelena Jankovic on Court No. 1, while five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams, one of sixteen thirty-somethings in the women’s draw this year, will face Elena Vesnina on Court No. 2.

Clijsters, now 29 and competing in her final Wimbledon, has made it perfectly clear that she's serious about her second retirement. "No, this is it," she told reporters on Sunday. When asked why, the four-time Grand Slam champion elaborated further. "Too old to play the game that I want to play physically," she said. "I've put my body through enough strain and everything. It's been great. I wouldn't change it for a thing,"

Rounding out a busy day for high seeds on the women’s side will be 3rd-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, who will take on Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia, 5th-seeded Samantha Stosur, who will take on Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain, and 11th-seeded Li Na, who will face Ksenia Pervak of Kazakhstan.

American fans will get to see two of their most promising players in action on Monday, as Sloane Stephens and Christina McHale, aged 19 and 20 respectively, will play their first matches. Stephens, currently ranked 59, will face Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, while the 28th-seeded McHale opens against 21-year-old wildcard Johanna Konta of Great Britain.

Click here for the official Wimbledon Ladies’ Singles Draw

 

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