TENNIS: SHARAPOVA GETS BY OPPONENT, NOT CRITICS DANIILIDOU RETIRES AS NO. 1 SEED WINS.

Byline: MATTHEW KREDELL

Staff Writer

CARSON -- Maria Sharapova's long legs, blonde locks and two Grand Slam titles aren't impressive to everyone.

At least not impressive enough to justify her current ranking.

Sharapova entered her opening match of the East West Bank Classic on Wednesday coming off her first title of the season in SanDiego.

She'll need a few more to silence the critics nipping at her heels.

"She's still the No. 2 player in the world, and only winning one title is not something I think you should see from the No. 2 player in the world," Jelena Jankovic, who is ranked one spot behind Sharapova despite winning four titles this year, said Monday.

The top seed had some trouble Wednesday night but advanced to the third round when Eleni Daniilidou of Greece retired four games into the second set at Home Depot Center.

Sharapova didn't agree with Jankovic's assessment.

"The rankings are done based on tournaments," Sharapova said.

"I definitely deserve to be No.2. I've won two Grand Slams. I'm ranked No. 2 and she is ranked No. 3, and that's based on criteria that has been in place for years."

Sharapova's last Grand Slam title came in the past 12 months, at the U.S. Open in September.

Daniilidou called a medical timeout before the fourth game of the second set and was grabbing her chest on the sideline as the doctor looked her over.

Sharapova broke her with a forehand winner, and Daniilidou immediately walked to the net to announce she couldn't go on.

Sharapova was leading 7-6 (5), 3-1 at the time.

Daniilidou said she had been ill for four days and had difficulty breathing on the court.

"I wanted badly to play the match against Maria," said Daniilidou, ranked No. 43, who spoke with a cracking voice and paused to wipe away tears. "The first round (Tuesday) was pretty tough. We're working for these kind of matches, to play against top players. That's why I wanted to step on the court and give my best."

Sharapova made the first set interesting after she had jumped out to an early break.

Serving for the set up 5-4, she hit a forehand long to allow Daniilidou to break back.

Then the Greek jumped up 3-0 in tiebreaker after a Sharapova double fault. However, Sharapova battled back to even the tiebreaker at 4-4, then won the set when Daniilidou couldn't handle her hard, angled backhand.

"In the beginning of the second set, you could definitely tell," Sharapova said of Daniilidou being ill. "The points were shorter. But, in the first set, I thought she played some of the best tennis she's played against me."

All four of the top eight seeds to play Wednesday advanced as the tournament returned to normal after three seeds were upset Tuesday.

Jankovic, the second-seeded Serbian, had no trouble with Shuai Peng of China in a 6-1, 6-1 victory. No. 4 Nadia Petrova of Russia beat American Lilia Osterloh 7-5, 6-3. Fifth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia beat Jilly Craybas 6-3, 7-6 (5) to set up an intriguing match today with ninth-seeded Elena Dementieva.

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Photo:

World No. 2 Maria Sharapova serves to Eleni Daniilidou during their match Wednesday night.

Scott Varley/Staff Photographer

Box:

EAST WEST BANK CLASSIC