With the first half of the tennis season and three grand slams complete, Maria Sharapova, supposedly the fourth-best female tennis player in the world, has played in eight tournaments this year and lost seven of them.

Only once this year has she been eliminated from a tournament by a higher-ranked player.

Four of her seven tournament ejections have come at the hands of players not ranked in the top ten, and two at the hands of players not ranked in the top fifty. She has been elimiated from tournaments this year by players ranked #117, #81, #17, #14, #8, #5 and #1.

Maria has beaten players ranked in the top ten only four times this whole year. She has beaten a higher-ranked player only once.

She has not won a tournament since March, and she has not won a tournament by beating a non-Russian since June 2005, more than one year ago. She has not won a tournament by beating a higher-ranked player since February 2005.

She has reached only one grand-slam final in her entire career.

Yet, she feels qualified to demand the same pay men get even though she doens't volunteer to play five-set matches the way the men do, and she has plenty of time to spend doffing her clothes for Sports Illustrated and appearing in TV commercials rather than true champions like Henin-Hardenne or Mauresmo, the grand-slam winners this year.

Shamopova revealed.