Thursday's attendance broke the 8,200 mark. No doubt the evening drew in more spectators in part due to scheduling that featured the WTA Tour's two biggest box-office draws in the same evening: American Serena Williams (who still lives part-time in the Los Angeles area) and teen sensation, Maria Sharapova, making her first appearance at the STAPLES Center. She has been pegged by the Tour publicists as the focal point of their media campaign that includes ads and billboards throughout the Los Angeles that tease, "Got Sharapova?"


Match 1: Amelie Mauresmo def. Vera Zvonareva 6-1, 6-0.

Another day brought another chance for Eastern Europe's most emotionally volatile player to have a temper tantrum. Last night, after winning her match against Vera Zvonareva, world #4 Svetlana Kuznetsova confirmed that Vera Zvonareva's temper is a trademark to her game and that since playing in their juniors she has come to expect it. But on a world-class level, even the most seasoned of observers are finding Zvonareva's outbursts and sulking to be more of a spectacle, upstaging her actual game.

Amelie Mauresmo recently became possibly the most dubious #1 ranked player in tennis history (she accomplished this feat without reaching so much as one grand slam final since 1999 and by getting past the quarters in only one slam even in 2004). Mauresmo played solidly and purposefully. She could have played 3 or 4 levels lower, however, as Zvonareva's game collapsed in a haze of 25 unforced errors in just 53 minutes. She never reached breakpoint against the Frenchwoman's powerful serve, managed only 4 points at the net, won just 29% of her second serve points, broke one racquet in anger (no code violation from the ump) and punched a ball so hard in the air that it got lost in the electronic scoreboard never to be seen again.

Afterwards, a jumpy, antsy Zvonareva, who stormed off the court and into the pressroom without taking even a moment to catch her breath, agreed that fatigue was starting to catch up to her as she has played a frantic fall season schedule chasing points in order to overcome other higher profile players to snag the final spot in qualifying for this tournament.

Zvonareva still anticipates playing Fed Cup and expects to have enough energy to get through that event, but admitted she will likely reduce her intense schedule in 2005.

Mauresmo was upbeat and positive about her victory and giggled when asked about her opponent's showmanship and antics, "She is very special in that area. It is rare to see that on the court. But that is the way it works for her," she explained lightheartedly.


Match 2: Maria Sharapova def. Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-4. Making her debut in the season ending championships, Maria Sharapova, the 2004 Wimbledon Champion, was overflowing with eagerness. Buoyed by the support of a large crowd, she dismantled the most recent grand slam singles winner, U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, in a well-played straight set victory.

Kuznetsova, annoyed by several lines calls, struggled to keep up with Sharapova's blistering groundstrokes and solid serve. Sharapova managed to outplay her more experienced opponent in almost every statistical category including better first serve percentage, volley winners and groundstroke winners (particularly off her impressive forehand side).

Interestingly, although neither player seemed interested in trying to win many points at the net, both enjoyed perfect stats when they got there: Kuznetsova winning 4 of 4 and Sharapova winning 7 of 7 approaches.

Later, Kuznetsova, who next plays Amelie Mauresmo on Friday night, said that her serve let her down as she felt she needed be a lot more solid in that area against Sharapova's aggressive return game.

She bemoaned the quality of the officiating, stating that chair umpire Sandra DeJenken was much to blame for the mistakes. She wasn't sure that video replays provided to the umpire might have helped tonight stating, "sometimes it's just the wrong line calls - it is the person who sits out there who can be completely wrong, you know." Later she added, "I think they are thinking of doing something with video. Maybe it may work. But it takes a very long time to try it and work how it is going to work out."

In her post-match remarks, Sharapova seemed exhausted not only from the match, but also from the months of excitement and attention she's received since her stunning Wimbledon triumph in July. "I never won a grand slam [before], so obviously, I didn't know what it would be like," she explained, "I wasn't prepared for winning Wimbledon. That is for sure …I never expected to win Wimbledon. I mean, I am not the kind of person that worries about results. I think the work will pay off in the end. And it will speak for all your success. I think it is just important to understand that, in order to achieve something big, no matter what you are doing - tennis or anything else - you just have to give it all you have so you never regret anything."

Maria Sharapova, who has spent most of her adolescence training in Florida and now has almost no detectable Russian accent when she speaks in English, also denied rumors that she is considering branching out into other interests such as acting or singing as a result of the celebrity she has achieved as a tennis played but she added, "I think it is great to once in awhile to try something different. I am, you know, a 'Renaissance Woman'. And I love to try different things. I love fashion … if there is a photo shoot, I find it to be very glamorous because definitely the work on the court is not very glamorous. So it feels good to get the makeup on."


Match 3: Serena Williams def. Elena Dementieva 7-6(3), 7-5.

After a lackluster, below-par performance against Lindsay Davenport in Wednesday's opening night session, a very different Elena Dementieva showed up at the STAPLES Center on Thursday night. Although she lost a second consecutive straight-set match in this round robin format, her game was at a much higher level as she forced former # 1 Serena Williams to scramble and set up a series of exciting, athletic points.

While Dementieva made fewer unforced errors in the match (25 to Williams's 37), Williams outplayed her at the net converting 17 of 22 net approaches and had more outright winners as well (22 to 15). Notably, Dementieva was also slowed by her disastrous second serve that prevented her from forcing a 3rd set.

Dementieva has struggled for months with a service motion that has become so erratic that she frequently resorts to barely spinning in her 2nd serve at a pace slower (as low as 60 mph) than many junior players. Indeed, Dementieva managed to win just 14 second serve points all match and Williams enjoyed 9 different opportunities to break serve (converting 5 times).

"What makes me happy is the effort," Williams explained afterwards, "I think I had really good effort today. Although I didn't make most of the shots, I think trying to come to the net much more than what I have in the whole year combined and trying different shots like the lob and side shots. I've really been working on that in the past few weeks; just adding that dimension to my game. I think it has helped a lot."

"I'm a perfectionist, I'm insatiable," Williams added.