Maria Sharapova Is Back On The Tennis Court Tonight

Sports Betting News - August 6th, 2009 - Written by Ryan Smith

After a 9 month lay off to recover from a shoulder injury, Maria Sharapova is playing in this weeks LA Women's tennis Championship presented by Herbal life. Sharapova had her first match on Monday night, and beat Jarmila Groth in two sets, after being down 1-3 in the second and final set. The Sony Ericsson WTP website reported Sharapova had this to say after her Monday night victory "Playing all of these tournaments is a great benefit for me. This is my sixth tournament back and this is going to be a process on things I want to improve and work on in my game. It has been a good ride so far." since returning from shoulder surgery, Sharapova has a record of 14-5 in match play.

Two of the leading online sportsbooks, Bodog and DSI, have released odds for Sharapova's match later tonight. Later this afternoon Shrapova will play against Alona Bonderanko on the center court, Sharapova is a -500 favorite to claim victory in this tennis match. Sharapova was once held the World number 1 rank before her shoulder injury, and hopes to regain that title with a solid performance this weekend. Sharapova is only 22 years old, and already has three Grand Slam titles, the first at Wimbledon in 2004, the second at the US open in 2006, and the third at the Australian open in 2008.

Though she is fighting off and injured shoulder at the moment, Sharapova has youth on her side. In her short career as a professional tennis player, she has accumulated an impressive record of  318-75, winning 81% of all her match's. The Williams sisters did not participate in this event, and for that reason Sharapova should have a strong chance to win her first tournament since suffering the shoulder injury. The total purse for this tournament is $700,000, and match's today will be shown on the Tennis channel selectively. The final round of match play Will tack place on Sunday Afternoon. Bodog and DSI will be placing game lines on this tournament all weekend long, so try to place wagers early.

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