Tracy Austin

Coming off a career-best season in which she won five titles, Maria Sharapova's best days are still ahead of her, and I believe we could start seeing evidence of that by her winning her first Australian Open women's singles title.

A career on the rise
Earlier this month the 19-year-old Russian added two more major endorsements (Gatorade and Tropicana), pushing her estimated annual income from endorsements, appearance fees, prize money and other sources to what is believed to be about $30 million.

All this income and all that Sharapova does off the court doesn't seem to affect her keen desire to win. From the time Sharapova turned pro she has always wanted to win titles. Big reasons for her success are her hunger, desire, and motivation.

Since the end of last season she has had some time to work on her strength and conditioning, and I think she is right where she wants to be for 2007. Sharapova, who turned pro in April of 2001, is a more mature and confident player. She's also gotten tougher mentally on the court.

She's looking to make it back-to-back majors as she won last year's U.S. Open, the second Grand Slam title of her career, the other one coming at Wimbledon in 2004.

World No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne is not in Melbourne skipping the season's first major for personal reasons. That has made Sharapova, who has advanced to the Australian Open semifinals the last two years, the top seed.

The draw went well for Sharapova as the highest-ranked player in her quarter is No. 8 Patty Schnyder. She faces a potential semifinal against either Kim Clijsters or Martina Hingis, and if the bottom of the draw plays to form, Amelie Mauresmo will be waiting in the final.

I'd say along with Sharapova, Clijsters and Mauresmo have to be considered the top contenders to leave Melbourne with the women's singles title. But Sharapova's in hot pursuit of a third major title, and keeping her from claiming it won't be easy.

Amelie Mauresmo
She's the defending Australian Open champion, and it was by winning in Melbourne a year ago that she finally shed the label of being "the most talented player never to have won a major."

After going 11 years without bagging a Grand Slam title, the 27-year-old also won Wimbledon last year. After her breakthrough in 2006,  Mauresmo is now a much more confident player.

That confidence translates not so much to what Mauresmo is doing with her forehand or backhand. It  translates to her on-the-court decisions, and I see her being a little bit more aggressive at the right times, and not folding in big spots, but instead getting stronger on crucial points.

Mentally she is a different player, and that's where matches are won and lost. Those still doubting whether she can reap the full potential of her talent could well be in for more surprises from the Frenchwoman in 2007.

Seeded second, Mauresmo should not be challenged until at least the quarters, where she could face either Elena Dementieva or Nicole Vaidisova. The top threats to stop her in the semis appear to be Nadia Petrova and Svetlana Kuznetsova.

But I would not bank on any of these players sending Mauresmo down to defeat. Rather than getting upset, it's far more likely that Mauresmo will march her way into another Melbourne final.

Kim Clijsters
It's a farewell tour of the majors for the 23-year-old Belgian, who plans on getting married after Wimbledon, and retiring by the end of this year. Knowing that this is her last year on the WTA Tour, she seems very motivated.

Part of the reason for her deciding to retire has been the wear and tear on her body that comes from playing on the tour. She's had her share of injuries including a sprained ankle that forced her to retire against Amelie Mauresmo in last year's Australian Open semifinals.

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The fourth-seeded Clijsters has never won this major, but has made the Melbourne semifinals four times and the final once (2004).

She sees the finish line to an excellent but relatively short career, and with that being the case she can go all out and put all she has into her tennis.

The wrist injury Clijsters suffered in Montreal last year is healed, and she looked good in the tour championships at the end of 2006, in Hong Kong where she posted a convincing win over Maria Sharapova earlier this year, and in Sydney where she won a warmup tournament to the Australian Open in the second week of January.

Her first real challenge should not be until at least the quarterfinals where she could meet sixth-seeded Martina Hingis. Since Hingis began her comeback last year she and Clijsters have played three times with the Belgian winning all three matches.

Martina Hingis
The 26-year-old Swiss Miss loves playing Down Under. Hingis won five Grand Slam singles titles before quitting tennis in 2002 due to chronic foot, heel and ankle injuries. Three of those titles came in Melbourne.

She started her comeback last year in Australia at the Gold Coast tournament, and went on to reach the quarters of the Australian Open.

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She loves the Rebound Ace surface in Melbourne, and even has that surface on her practice court at home. Plus, she benefits greatly from her craftiness, her ability to change the pace on the ball, and her knack to drop-shot an opponent at will.

She has a lot of versatility to her game, and that gives many of her opponents difficulty. Playing Hingis is like playing a chess match on the court. Opponents are constantly seeing different shots from her.

While she can't overlook any early-round opponents, the sixth-seeded Hingis has to have her sights set on a potential semifinal showdown with fourth-seeded Kim Clijsters.

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