Happy New Year 2007!

Maria Sharapova’s Smile called World’s Best

Russian Tennis star Maria Sharapova won the best celebrity smile survey conducted by American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD) to find out who of the Hollywood stars and athletes had the star-worthy smiles.

The 42 percent of respondents said tennis star Maria Sharapova had the best female athlete smile. The U.S. golf player, Tiger Woods, was called the male athlete with the best smile by 59 percent of respondents, showed the survey conducted by the largest non-profit association of cosmetic dental professionals in the world, AACD. Maria Sharapova was also featured in the January issue of the U.S. Vogue dedicated to the best dressed celebrities and it wasn’t the first time that Sharapova was mentioned in the lists of celebrities compiled by prestigious glossy magazines.

Maria Sharapova - Lindsay Davenport Match cancelled

A New Year’s exhibition match in Seoul between Maria Sharapova

and Lindsay Davenport has been cancelled due to the latter’s pregnancy, an organizer said Wednesday. The two world-class players were due to clash on the first day of 2007 in Seoul. “Early this morning, we were notified from the agent for Davenport that she cannot play the exhibition match because of her pregnancy,” Lee Seung-hwan, the president of sports marketing company Sema Sports, told Yonhap News Agency. “Because of the short notice, we have decided to cancel the event.”

Maria Sharapova to play in Japan in the Pan Pacific Open

Maria Sharapova has confirmed that she will play in the Pan Pacific Open event in January 2007. The former Wimbledon champion will be one of three top-10 Female Players to feature in the Tokyo tournament, which comes off the back of the first Grand Slam event of the season, the Australian Open.

Martina Hingis, seventh in the WTA rankings, and Russia's Elena Dementieva will also feature in the Pan Pacific event, but much of the focus will be on Maria.

Maria Sharapova will go in search of her second Pan Pacific title having claimed victory in 2005 and is likely to start the tournament as favourite. The Japanese tournament starts on January 30, just a couple of days after the conclusion of the Australian Open, in which Maria Sharapova will be hoping to improve on her best finish having reached the semi-final stage in 2005 and 2006.