The tennis world, according to Maria Sharapova By DENNIS PASSA, AP Sports Writer January 24, 2006 MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- At 18, with a Wimbledon title and a previous No. 1 ranking on her resume, Maria Sharapova has made an early mark on the tennis world. And one of the sport's most popular players is happy to share her thoughts on tennis: -- Tennis on TV: not the greatest. -- Season: too long. -- Surfaces and balls: not enough consistency. -- Coordination among tours: not good enough. Sharapova, whose favorite television program is "The O.C.," rarely switches the TV on to watch tennis -- not even to scout potential rivals. "I'm not the biggest fan, I must say, no," Sharapova said Tuesday after her 7-6(6), 6-4 win over fellow Russian Nadia Petrova at the Australian Open. "If there are other things on, I'd rather watch something else than tennis, unless it's a very exciting match where you know the quality of the tennis is going to be great." Sharapova got into the subject when asked if she would watch a later quarterfinal match between Lindsay Davenport and Justine Henin-Hardenne on television. Henin-Hardenne won and will be Sharapova's semifinal opponent on Thursday. "No. It's just not that I'm going to plan my day, my evening around some match that's on TV," Sharapova said, adding she's studying high school economics on the road. "I was on court. I've been waiting for a match the whole day. I'm not going to wait to watch another match that evening." The Russian star says tennis needs a few changes. "I think there's a lot of things that could make the tennis world more exciting for the players as well as the fans," Sharapova said after her quarterfinal match. "I think everybody knows that the tennis season is way too long. It's about 10 1/2 months of the year. If they know nothing about tennis, people think you're absolutely crazy." Sharapova, who interrupted sending text messages on her cell phone for the news conference, also said court surfaces need to be more consistent. "We're going from Rebound Ace (at Melbourne Park) to Tokyo, which is synthetic grass," said Sharapova, "to playing with different heaviness of the balls. There are so many things." And Sharapova said scheduling poses major problems, as well. "Fans don't know what tournaments are bigger than the others," she said. "I think there needs to be a better structure on the tour. But it is not something that is going to happen very quickly." Coordination among the WTA Tour, the ATP men's tour and the International Tennis Federation is the key, she said. "It's a big business for everyone. The WTA Tour and the ATP and the ITF and everyone that's in this whole tennis world needs to come together because I think each and every one of them is trying to make a business in their own little shell," she said. --

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