Battle of the ages: Sharapova, 17, against Davenport, 28
WIMBLEDON, England -- The shrieks that accompany some of her shots are reminiscent of Monica Seles, and her modeling contract invites comparisons to fellow Russian Anna Kournikova.
But at Wimbledon, Maria Sharapova would rather be like Martina Hingis.
The 17-year-old Sharapova became the youngest player to reach the Wimbledon semifinals since Hingis and Kournikova in 1997 by beating Ai Sugiyama, 5-7, 7-5, 6-1, on Tuesday.
Hingis, then 16, beat Kournikova in the semifinals and won the final as well for one of her five Grand Slam championships. Kournikova, then also 16, is still without a title.
"I want to win this tournament," Sharapova said. "I want it very bad. When you have a big passion for something and you want to achieve something, I'm going to give it my all."
The precocious Russian closed out her latest victory emphatically, repeatedly hitting big serves as she won 20 of the final 22 points.
Then, she raised her arms and froze the pose.
"I didn't believe it at all," she said. "These things don't happen every day."
Her semifinal opponent Thursday will be 1999 champion Lindsay Davenport, 28, who said there's "probably a good chance" this is her last Wimbledon. Sharapova was 4 when Davenport played her first Grand Slam match.
"She's a great champion," Sharapova said. "She's won this tournament, and I want this tournament, so it's going to be interesting."
Born in Siberia, Sharapova honed her game at Nick Bollettieri's tennis academy in Florida beginning at age 9. Although she turned 17 just two months ago, her showing at Wimbledon isn't a shock because she reached the fourth round as a wild card in 2003.
Her shrill grunting last year drew notice -- and even occasional complaints from other players. She has since toned it down, but the volume rose at key moments against Sugiyama, prompting chuckles from the Centre Court crowd.
Usually chatty and quick to laugh in news conferences, Sharapova dislikes discussing her shrieks. And while she's a 6-foot blonde and a magazine cover girl, she recoils from the Kournikova comparisons.
"That would be pretty annoying," Davenport said. "I don't think anyone really necessarily wants to be compared to her or the next her. I think that they strive to do better than that. I think Maria's career will be more successful."
With her solid serve, good speed and penetrating strokes from both sides, Sharapova has been touted as perhaps the most promising of the numerous emerging young Russians on the women's tour. She's already won three titles, including this year's Wimbledon warmup tournament in Birmingham, England.
She broke open a tight match to earn her first berth in a Grand Slam semifinal. Sugiyama was five points from victory in the second set before Sharapova rallied, and at 1-all in the final set the Russian shifted into a higher gear, winning 13 consecutive points.
"I felt like from any position in the court I could hit a good shot," she said. "That's a good feeling to have when you're in the third set."
Sharapova won the final six points, then celebrated by blowing kisses to the crowd -- a diva relishing her Centre Court debut.
"It's a very good feeling," she said. "But I'm not going to think it's destined to be or it's not destined to be. I just want to keep going and keep playing and keep having fun."
