Marketing Daily reports that Canon readies new Sharapova ad for the US Open debut (even though Maria’s participation in the event is not confirmed yet due to her shoulder injury).

“…The new TV spot for Canon PowerShot, featuring tennis star Maria Sharapova and her dog Dolce, shows fans with Elph cameras approaching the player and asking to take a picture. Unfortunately, the picture they want (to her growing chagrin) is of her dog, Dolce.

The TV spot will break on the first day of the Aug. 25-Sept. 7 tournament and run for its duration on USA Network and CBS. And the tennis star will unveil five diamond-encrusted Canon PowerShot Elph cameras during an invitation-only event at “Canon Center Court” on Aug. 20 at South Street Seaport.“

The  No 3-ranked Maria Sharapova has announced on her site that she is pulling out of the Beijing Olympics and the US Open because of her injured right shoulder.

“It hurts me so much to miss the Olympics and the U.S. Open, you have no idea,” she said. “Just to type those words hurt!!” Sharapova said she would go to Arizona to work with a specialist for rehabilitation and strength work. She hopes to be ready  to play again in  two to three months.

This must be really hard for her–especially missing the Olympics. My impression was that she really, really wanted to play for Russia in Beijing. It could also greatly contribute to her image promotion in the world.

Forbes has released its list of the Top-Earning Athletes of the Beijing Olympics. Roger Federer ranks at 4, whereas Maria Sharapova is No. 7.

Roger Federer

Estimated annual income: $35 million

Federer has racked up 12 Grand Slam titles and some $40 million in prize money alone since hitting the pro tour eight years ago. He has a 10-year deal with Nike, signed in 2007, is one of the longest commitments the company has ever done. Federer has also had his own cologne line since 2003. It’s still possible his tournament schedule could preclude his playing in Beijing.

Maria Sharapova

Estimated annual income: $26 million

There’s nothing like the combination of talent and sex appeal to turn yourself into a sports marketing juggernaut. Sharapova’s endorsement portfolio includes Sony, Pepsi, Colgate-Palmolive, Nike and Motorola.

Young, famous, rich, AND outspoken.

Russian tennis star and Goodwill Ambassador of the UN Development Program Maria Sharapova will visit Chernobyl this summer to draw attention to problems still facing the regions worst hit by the 1986 nuclear disaster. (Ria Novosti).

Maria Sharapova has made an appearance on CBS’ Late Show last night, where David Letterman presented her with a can of tennis balls with a bow on it. World No. 3 Sharapova was in New York to celebrate her 21st birthday. If you missed the show, you still can check it out at Down the Line.

World number four Svetlana Kuznetsova will lead Russia’s Fed Cup team in next month’s semi-final against the United States in Moscow.

“We had an agreement with Kuznetsova and Sharapova that one of them would play against Israel and the other against the US,” Tarpishchev said. “Sharapova had already played in Tel Aviv, so now it’s Kuznetsova’s turn. It was sort of a trade-off because both of them have very busy schedules.

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In an interview with RBK TV Russia’s tennis boss Shamil Tarpischev has said that he has almost finalized the list of the Russian players for the upcoming Beijing Olympics. There are four spots available for Russia. Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Anna Chakvetadze are confirmed participants. For the last spot, Tarpischev said he still needed to make a decision between Elena Dementieva and Vera Zvonareva. As for the men’s side, things are more complicated. Since there are five players equally qualifying for the four available tickets– Nikolay Davydenko, Mikail Youzhny, Dmitry Tursunov, and Marat Safin. June 8th is the deadline for the submission of the final participants’ list.

From Maria Sharapova’s interview at Pacific Life Open.

Q. Ana Ivanovic yesterday spoke to us a lot about how she reads Freud, and she went on for about 10 minutes.
MARIA SHARAPOVA: How she what?

Q. Read Freud, Sigmund Freud, the psychologist.
MARIA SHARAPOVA: I don’t know who that is.

Q. The psychologist. Very famous?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Oh, psychologist, sorry.

March 14, 2008,

Pacific Life Open.

Q. Do you plan on playing? Because Andy pulled out of it because he thought it was too close to the US Open for him. What are your thoughts about it? And can you excel at both the Open and the Olympics since it’s so close together?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: The Olympics comes around only once every four years, and the US Open is there every single year. I don’t know if he’s played the Olympics before. But, you know, obviously I never have, and it’s been a dream of mine ever since I was a little girl.
So it’s been one of my priorities for a very long time. You know, I’m privileged to be part of so many athletes. You know, I really don’t know what to expect, because usually you play the same events every single year. You go from tournament to tournament.
I think this will be just completely new and different, and usually you have sort of an idea of what things are going to be like, but I’m really clueless. I’m just — one of the things I’m really looking forward to is the opening ceremony and walking with all the athletes and, you know, athletes from my country, yeah, in front of thousands of people.

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