TENNIS in DEPTH.

The WTA final in Memphis will be between Maria Sharapova, we all know her record, and Sofia Arvidsson. Arvidsson is a 25 year old qualifier from Sweden who is unranked, this means she has either not played sufficient matches to earn a ranking or she is outside the top 250.

It is not the quality of match that makes a person’s skin tingle with excitement, or the type of match that stirs the blood with expectation. It is the type of match that costs the WTA a small portion of its reputation, and a match that keeps the fans away.

Sharapova has the choice of entering any tournament for which she is qualified, but when all the ‘good’ players choose to play in Dubai, I have to wonder why she chose Memphis.

If this final becomes a struggle for Sharapova, or if she even lose a single set, then she can take nothing positive from her decision to play here. If Arvidsson wins, then Sharapova’s credibility as a top player will be severely compromised.

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Andy Roddick’s bid to defend his title at the ATP Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis came to a thudding halt on Friday night at the hands of fellow American Sam Querrey.

Eighth seed Querrey broke the top seed’s serve twice in the deciding set to prevail 7-5 3-6 6-1 in their quarter-final match-up and set up a last-four clash with Latvian youngster Ernest Gulbis.

Gulbis, who ousted third seed Radek Stepanek in round two, continued his fine run with a battling 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7/3) victory over another Czech on Friday – fifth seed Tomas Berdych.

The other semi-final will be between Philipp Petzschner and sixth seed John Isner.

Germany’s Petzschner overcame Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko 6-1 1-6 6-1 while American Isner defeated Croatian Ivo Karlovic 6-1 7-6 (9/7).

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Robin Soderling of Sweden lost to Michael Llodra of France on Friday, falling 7-6 (2), 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Open 13.

Llodra, runner-up to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga last year in an all-French final, never lost his serve and had 15 aces.

“I have great sensations,” Llodra said. “I knew it would be difficult to return his serve, but I waited for the good opportunity and I was able to keep my nerves under control.”

Tsonga joined Llodra in the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-4 win over lucky loser Illya Marchenko of Ukraine.

In a quarterfinal between two big servers, Llodra and Soderling offered few rallies but strong play at the net.

Soderling, who earned his fifth career title in Rotterdam last week, lost control of the first set in the tiebreaker when he missed two consecutive forehands.

Llodra, who beat seventh-seeded Marcos Baghdatis in the second round, made the decisive break for a 2-0 advantage in the second set, and won the match when Soderling sent a passing shot wide on the first match point.

“I knew he would be nervous after losing the first set and I put the pressure on him,” Llodra said. “It paid off.”

Llodra will play the winner of the quarterfinal between Mischa Zverev of Germany and wild card Guillaume Rufin of France.

Tsonga was inconsistent against Marchenko, squandering eight of 11 break points.

Tsonga, who reached the Australian Open semifinals, showed his nerves toward the end when he wasted two match points with backhand errors.

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Defending titlist Venus Williams will go against Victoria Azarenka in Saturday’s finals of the $2 million Dubai Tennis Championships.

Williams the tournament’s No. 3 seed, breezed by Shahar Peer 6-1, 6-4 in Friday’s first semifinal match. The fourth-seeded Azarenka advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 7-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska.

Williams took the first four games of the first match and, despite having her serve broken, finished off the set in 23 minutes, losing just 11 points. The second set was much closer, with Peer and Williams trading early service breaks. Williams got another break to go up 4-3 and held from there.

Azarenka trailed 4-2 after a break in the second set of her match but answered with two breaks of her own to pull ahead.

Williams defeated Azarenka in their only previous meeting, which came in the 2008 Olympics. If Azarenka can begin the match at her usual fast pace, as she did against Serena in Australia, and hold her nerves incheck she can successfully close out the match.

The 2010 Dubai Tennis Championship title includes a first-place check for $350,000. The runner-up will settle for $175,000

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Just a few weeks after staging a Fed Cup tie, Belgrade will play host to Serbia’s Davis Cup team, and Nenad Zimonjic, the nation’s doubles specialist, is excited about the prospect of appearing in front of a home crowd.

“It’s always nice to play at home,” said Zimonjic. “We always have a great atmosphere. There is a big stadium in Belgrade. I really can’t wait to get there and play such an important match for us.”

Serbia’s Davis Cup by BNP Paribas campaign in 2010 gets under way against USA. The two nations have not previously met, adding to the anticipation ahead of this fixture.

For the last two years, Serbia has lost in the first round. In fact, it has never progressed past this stage, so it is fair to say that this tie versus the 32-time champion could be the biggest in the nation’s history.

“It’s going to be a great atmosphere,” said Zimonjic, who has notched 34 career doubles titles, including back-to-back victories at Wimbledon, and is currently No. 1 in the world rankings.

“It’s good that we play indoors so the weather is not going to be a factor and the crowd is going to be behind us, that’s for sure, because it’s a big event. A team like United States coming to Belgrade, one of the best team’s ever in tennis.”

For the first time USA will be without the services of Andy Roddick and James Blake but will be able to call upon Bob and Mike Bryan in doubles. USA Captain Patrick McEnroe has selected John Isner and Sam Querrey as his singles players.

Novak Djokovic will likely lead the Serbian singles line-up alongside Viktor Troicki and Janko Tipsarevic. Zimonjic will play in the doubles rubber, although his partner is yet to be decided.

“It’s going to be a great event for the city, for the country and for us as well,” added Zimonjic.

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Venus Williams is on track to win her second Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships title after ending the run of Shahar Peer in the semi-finals on Friday.

Williams came through 6-1 6-4.

Williams dominated the opening set as her aggressive play gave Peer little opportunity to establish herself in the match. Peer was pushed onto the back foot and committed error after error as Williams broke to lead 2-0 and then took a 4-0 lead when Peer double-faulted.

The second set though increasingly became a real battle as Peer raised her aggression levels and challenged Williams in the fiercely contested rallies.

Although Williams broke for 1-0 on a fourth Peer double-fault, Peer was able to level at 2-2 to set up a fine finale. From then on most of the games were closely contested, with Peer fighting off five break points in a nine-deuce game to hold for 3-2 before Williams broke for 4-3 when a big serve return forced an error.

Williams in turn then held off five break points before holding for 5-3, before going on to close out the match on her third match point.

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Maria Sharapova beat No. 8 seed Elena Baltacha of Great Britain, 6-2, 7-5, to move into the semifinals at the $220,000 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships & the Cellular South Cup tennis event.

The former world No. 1 and three-time major champion Sharapova will face fifth seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in the semis. Kvitova beat third seed Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-0) on the indoor hardcourts at The Racquet Club of Memphis.

Rising American star Melanie Oudin was a quarterfinal upset victim Thursday The second-seeded Oudin was sent packing by unseeded 2006 Memphis champion Sofia Arvidsson, of Sweden, 6-1, 6-3 in just under an hour on Day 5.

The 18-year-old Oudin was a surprise U.S. Open quarterfinalist last season.

One other quarterfinal bout saw Brit Anne Keothavong dismiss Croat Karolina Sprem 6-4, 6-3.

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Venus Williams claimed her place in the last four of the Dubai Tennis Championships with a straight-sets victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

The third seed broke her Russian opponent four times on her way to a 6-3 6-4 win to set up a semi-final clash with Shahar Peer.

The eighth-seeded Israeli was leading Li Na 7-5 3-0 when the Chinese player retired with a back injury.

Fourth seed Victoria Azarenka was too strong for Vera Zvonareva, beating the Russian 12th seed 6-1 6-3 in just 72 minutes.

Azarenka’s last-four opponent will be Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska after the seventh seed battled back from a set down to see off Regina Kulikova 3-6 6-4 6-3.

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