Maria Sharapova Regains World No. 1 Ranking
Sharapova Uses O3 White to Take Back Top Spot
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Zach Perles
One Advantage Court
Bordentown,
609-291-5932
zperles@princesports.com
01/29/07 - Bordentown, NJ--With her run at this year’s Australian Open, Maria Sharapova, the most recognizable face in tennis, has regained her title as the No.1 ranked woman tennis player in the world. Sharapova used the O3 White, the top selling performance racquet at tennis specialty stores, to march all the way to the finals, knocking off four seeded players, including No.4 seed Kim Clijsters, along the way.
With her performance, Sharapova replaces Justine Henin as the world’s No.1, a position Sharapova had previously held for seven non-consecutive weeks between August and October 2005.
“It has been an incredible two weeks for me. I fought hard and while it would have been nice to come away with another Grand Slam title, it is an amazing feeling to be back at No. 1,” said Sharapova. “I have worked very hard to get back to the top spot and feel fortunate to have such a great team behind me helping me reach my goals and stay on top.”
Sharapova, who has a multi-million dollar lifetime endorsement deal with Prince and has been playing Prince racquets since the age of nine, has now reached the finals in three Grand Slam tournaments. Since switching to the O3 White in January 2006, Sharapova has won five titles including the 2006 U.S Open, Indian Wells and San Diego, and was a finalist at Dubai and Miami.
“We are so proud of, and happy for, Maria,” said Linda Glassel, vice president of marketing at Prince. “She played at the highest level and represented herself with the utmost class. Maria is the face of Prince Tennis, and we have no doubt that there are many more weeks at No.1 in her future.”
O3 Technology Makes the Difference
Sharapova is joined by nearly 100 touring pros who are O3 players. O3 technology, introduced by Prince in January 2005, transforms traditional string holes into revolutionary giant O-ports. The O-ports are designed to give players a larger sweet spot, increased speed and more stability. Since then, players have been taking notice and making the switch. In fact, 56% of the players who have tested O3 racquets now play with the technology, and nearly every one of those players has improved his/her ranking since switching.
Overall, O3, and Prince in general, enjoyed an extremely successful tournament Down Under. Four of the 16 singles players in the Women’s Round of 16 played O3 racquets. To date, there are more than twenty top 100 ATP and WTA pros using O3 on tour.
Liezel Huber Wins Australian Open Doubles Championship
Liezel Huber, who plays the O3 Tour, won the Australian Open Women’s doubles title with partner Cara Black defeating Chan Yung-Jan and Chuang Chia-Jung 6-4 6-7(4-7) 6-1. The win marks Huber's second Grand Slam doubles title. Huber, who also won a Wimbledon doubles title with Black in 2005, was ranked No.17 in doubles coming into Melbourne. With the title, she has leapt to No.6 in the world. Huber also reached the semi-finals in mixed doubles with partner Kevin Ullyett.
About Prince Sports
Prince Sports, Inc., based in New Jersey, is a recognized leader in game-improvement technologies and engineering-based high-performance sports equipment. Since 1970, Prince and Ektelon have revolutionized tennis, squash and racquetball with innovations including “Oversize,” “Longbody” and “Extender” racquet technologies, Natural Foot Shape footwear technology, Synthetic Gut String and Electronic Ball Machines. Prince gives players speed, stability and a larger sweet spot with O3 racquet technology, building the brand with O3 Original Series (2005), O3 Hybrid (2006) and O3 Speedport (2007). In 2006, Prince introduced M Series footwear with Precision Tube Technology, an innovation that gives players maximum cushioning, stability and ventilation. Prince Sports has operations on three continents and distribution in over 100 countries. For more information, please visit www.princetennis.com.
