The world's No. 3-ranked women's player launched a volley at the WTA Tour on her website (mariasharapova.com) last Friday related to a photo shoot she is supposed to do before the women's Italian Open next week. "I want all my fans to know that the WTA Tour is forcing me and several of the other top players to do a four-hour commercial shoot for WTA Tour marketing materials," she wrote. "They want me to do this shoot on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday of the Rome tournament after flying 12 hours from [Los Angeles]. "I have set my own personal rules when it comes to doing shoots and I never do shoots before tournaments because they are mentally draining and I want to just focus on my tennis. Now the WTA is telling me if I don't do this shoot they will fine me over $300,000 [U.S.]. As you can see the WTA Tour loves to fine players." A Reuters report indicates the fine could go to more than $700,000, with the additional $400,000 tacked on because Sharapova chooses not to wear a Sony Ericsson WTA Tour logo patch on her clothing. Sharapova's using her website as tool to get out her side of the story is yet another example of the diversity of the Internet and its applications to tennis. Many enthusiasts who have long relied on it as a primary information source now use it to watch live matches. Frustrated by television coverage that either does not exist or is tape-delayed and/or truncated, fans have the option of webcasts as offered by individual tournaments or the ATP (atptennis.com) and WTA (wtatour.com) tours.http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080505.wtebbutt05/BNStory/Technology/
http://www.mariasharapova.com/
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