Maria Sharapova - Getty Images

Final Acura Classic contested in San Diego

With one week to go before the Rogers Cup presented by American Express kicks off at the Rexall Centre in Toronto, women’s tennis is better than ever.

In San Diego, Maria Sharapova proved she is back. After struggling to find the form she displayed at the end of last year, the top-seeded Russian finally broke through for her first title of the season, winning her second straight Acura Classic championship in California with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 victory over No. 11 seed Patty Schnyder (Switzerland). The win was her fifth straight over the veteran Swiss player and also moved her to the top of the US Open Series Lever 2000 Challenge standings, where she sits just five points ahead of countrywoman Anna Chakvetadze.

Hailing from Nyagan, Siberia, the 20-year old Sharapova first exploded onto the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour scene in 2004 when she won the Wimbledon championship at 17 years of age, becoming the third youngest woman ever to capture the Grand Slam title at the All England Club. The No. 2 ranked player in the world has been dominating the women’s game ever since, finishing in the Top five of the season-ending rankings each year since 2004 and collecting 16 titles along the way, including her second major championship at last year’s US Open.

The other big story of the tournament was Chakvetadze, who came into San Diego with two straight victories under her belt (in Cincinnati, Ohio and Stanford, California) and riding a nine-match winning streak. While her streak was snapped in the semifinals by Sharapova, Chakvetadze will be remembered more for her stunning come-from-behind victory over American Venus Williams in the quarterfinals, where she won the second set in a tie-break after saving match point and went on to win the third set 6-2.

Chakvetadze also made a splash in the doubles draw, where she and partner Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) made a surprise appearance in the final. However, the unseeded duo was overmatched by the top-seeded tandem of Cara Black (Zimbabwe) and Liezel Huber (South Africa), who won the championship with a 7-5, 6-4 victory in the final. It was the first Acura Classic title for the pair but the fourth for Black, who previously won the event in 2001 with Elena Likhovtseva (Russia) and 2004 and 2006 with Rennae Stubbs (Australia).

Black and Huber are the top ranked doubles team on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour and sit one-two, respectively, in the doubles world rankings. They are currently enjoying their best ever season together, having now won six titles thus far in 2007, including the Australian Open and Wimbledon. For one three-month span this season, beginning in January, the pair was unbeatable, winning 22 matches in a row and collecting four titles in that time. They followed up their victory Down Under with titles in Paris [Indoors], Antwerp and Dubai before losing in the Miami final to Lisa Raymond (United States) and Samantha Stosur (Australia).

Along with this dominant doubles duo, Sharapova will go down as the last ever champion at the Acura Classic, as the prestigious Tier I tournament will not be on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour calendar next year. The 24-year run of the Classic is officially over as the tournament directors stepped down following the conclusion of the event.

Next up for the women is the East West Bank Classic presented by Herbalife in Los Angeles, California, the next stop of this summer’s US Open Series Lever 2000 Challenge. Five of the world’s Top 10 players are in the draw for this Tier II tournament, including Sharapova, Serbians Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic, Russia’s Nadia Petrova and Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova.  Also in the draw is defending champion Elena Dementieva (Russia) and several more of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour’s top stars.

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