It’s so nice to see Sharapova doing great on the tennis courts again.

From being one of tennis’ brightest teen sensations, Maria Sharapova is now one of the experienced veterans at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships.

Yes, Maria Sharapova, at 24, is the oldest of the women’s semifinalists at the All England Club, and the most experienced at that. Being the veteran is new for Sharapova, who was just 17 when she won her only Wimbledon title in 2004.

The other three semifinalists; Victoria Azarenka, Petra Kvitova, and Sabine Lisicki, are all 21 and have no Grand Slam finals among them. Only Kvitova has reached a Grand Slam semifinal before, having made the last four at Wimbledon last year.

This is why people already expect Sharapova to win her first Wimbledon since 2004. But as far as Sharapova is concerned, she doesn’t see it as an advantage.

”I think a few years don’t really make that much of a difference,” the fifth-seeded Sharapova said. ”I think maybe if I achieved big things when I was a little bit older, not 17, maybe I wouldn’t be seen as more of a veteran. I’d still be considered young.”

”But I don’t regret for a second that I had a lot of success when I was young…”

Another race and it’s another win for the young German sensation.

Defending Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel won the European Grand Prix in Valencia to extend his lead in the overall standings with his sixth win in eight races this 2011 F1 season.

Vettel’s 16th career victory for Red Bull Racing made him the first man to finish first or second in the opening eight races of a season in the history of the Formula One world championship.

The 23-year-old German dispelled any thoughts that the last lap error in Canada a fortnight ago which cost him victory would have an adverse effect on him, as he coasted home in his Red Bull to beat Spain’s Fernando Alonso in a Ferrari.

Vettel’s Australian teammate Mark Webber was third.

The victory helped Sebastian Vettel open up a huge 77-point gap in this year’s title race. He now has 186 points after eight of the season’s 19 events, ahead of nearest rival, Briton Jenson Button on 109.

It was just the fourth time ever in Formula One that all the drivers finished the race and the first time since the Italian Grand Prix in 2005. Great Britain’s 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton for McLaren honored his pledge to restrain his daredevil style and ensure he crossed the finish line, taking fourth place.

Brazilian Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari and Button, in the second McLaren, finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

German Nico Rosberg was seventh for Mercedes and…

And in case you didn’t get that, no, Kyrie Irving cannot cure what ails the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The sting that the Cavaliers still feel after watching LeBron James pick Miami on national TV before the 2011 NBA basketball season began will not go away with one inexperienced guard from Duke. As talented as he may be and there some questions as to the extent of his talents what exists in the city of Cleveland is a problem with culture and forgiveness.

Kyrie Irving is only a small piece to puzzle. It hurts to have your heart broken. Anyone who has ever gone through their teen years knows exactly what it’s like to feel like you gave your heart to someone, only to have them mishandle it and leave you to pick up the pieces.

That was Cleveland with LeBron James 12 months ago, like it or not.

Still, the basketball gods were kind to the Cleveland Cavaliers as they pulled a savvy move to get two picks in the lottery, including the No.1 pick coming from the Clippers in the Baron Davis trade.

Dan Gilbert appeared ecstatic on the night of the lottery. Perhaps he understood just how valuable two top-five picks are in any draft, or perhaps he understood just what it meant to him and the city of Cleveland.

Cleveland isn’t suffering from bad basketball. The play is bad, don’t get me wrong, but Cleveland is suffering from heartache and rejection. They have been operating out of fear. First the fear that King James would leave if he didn’t get his ring. Now it’s the fear that he’ll get one well before the Cavaliers escape from basketball hell. It’s a feeling that can’t be heeled by winning. It’s only something that can be healed with acceptance.

See, if Cleveland thinks that this draft is their ticket to beating…

Yup, they made Kyrie Irving as their first pick.

It’s not because Kyrie Irving, amongst all other candidates shows the type of flash and athleticism to become a franchise player. It’s not because Irving possesses rare intangibles that sets him apart from others.

When Michael Jordan entered the NBA draft, Bobby Knight was certain of his talent. He knew he had a hunger and a passion for the game that isn’t held by most. Irving may have that passion, but if so, it’s not outwardly present.

There have been some reservations about him as a top pick. The first is that though he shined when he was on the court, he had a small sampling size. How much can you say about the readiness of a player who didn’t make it through half a season of games?

You say that in a watered down draft you get Irving because he’s the surest thing and then hope for him to rise above the middling expectations for him. For many Irving is a top-12 guard at the best. Not a bad place in a league full of extraordinary guards but not exactly a difference maker.

It’s an idea that many people in sports are saddled with but the term is overused. The Cleveland Cavaliers don’t have to win now because Cleveland is not in competition with Miami, no matter how talented their draftees turn out to be.

Cleveland spent the last seven years making questionable front office moves because they were desperate to win and please King James. Now, even if Kyrie Irving, and whomever else they got in the draft, turn out to exceed expectations, Cleveland cannot worry about…

25-0, 19 coming by way of knockout.

That is what’s coming at Manny Pacquiao at full speed as the undefeated welterweight Mike Jones wants some third world blood after knocking out Raul Munoz at the Asylum Arena in South Philadelphia over the weekend.

Fighting in front of his hometown fans for the first time in 2 years, Mike Jones made quick work of Munoz, finishing him off with 50 seconds remaining in the second round to stay undefeated and become the top-ranked contender for Pacquiao’s welterweight title.

”I took my time [in the first round],” Jones said.

”I was relaxed and looked for an opening. When Munoz was more aggressive [in the second round], he left himself more open. I followed our game plan of going to his body to get him to drop his hands down. Then I started to go up on top. I got him with a good right [to end the fight at 2:29 of the second round].”

Jones, who had not fought since February, is ranked No. 1 by the WBO, No. 2 by the WBA, No. 3 by the IBF and No. 5 by the WBC. At 25-0, Jones now wants to save boxing as he looks to erase the biggest joke the sport was so unfortunate to have.

Manny Pacquiao.

”I want a big fight,” he said. ”There are a lot of great fighters out there and I’ll fight any one of them. I want to fight…”

Seems to me that the Dodgers are in a whole lot of trouble lately.

In case you didn’t know, the LA Dodgers find themselves in the middle of some financial trouble this 2011 MLB season as Frank McCourt hopes to secure a $150-million loan to meet payroll, retain control of the team and hold an auction for TV rights. The league plans to present an alternate plan and may attempt to strip McCourt of his franchise rights.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have filed for bankruptcy protection, a bid by Frank McCourt to preserve his ownership of the team by prodding a judge to override the rules of Major League Baseball.

McCourt will ask a Delaware bankruptcy judge Tuesday to approve interim financing to meet this week’s payroll. McCourt would then retain immediate control of the Dodgers, with the intention of negotiating a television rights deal that would satisfy the court by paying off all creditors in full.

The bankruptcy proceedings mean the Dodgers could end a third consecutive season with no resolution to an ownership issue clouded by the divorce of McCourt and his ex-wife, Jamie.

The divorce case — nearing its two-year anniversary — revealed how the McCourts had diverted more than $100 million from the team to keep up a lavish lifestyle that included side-by-side homes in Holmby Hills and Malibu, private jet travel and his-and-hers house calls from hairdressers.

The specter of additional months — or years — of court proceedings comes…

With a commanding 77-point lead, I don’t think the rest of the field will be able to catch up.

However, Sebastian Vettel is not getting ahead of himself despite extending his lead in the Drivers’ Championship to 77 points this 2011 F1 season.

In case you haven’t been watching this year’s championship race, reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel has proven to be almost unbeatable this season, only losing out on victory on two occasions. Both were to McLaren drivers, and one of those losses, Canada, was through a mistake of his own.

With six victories to his credit, the latest which he achieved in Valencia on Sunday afternoon, the Red Bull driver is holding a commanding 77-point lead over Jenson Button and his own teammate Mark Webber.

Vettel, though, is refusing to get carried away, urging his team to “stay hungry.”

“I’m not looking at the gap. Obviously the title is the target but we’ll take it step by step,” he said. “If we have the chance to win, we’ll take it because the day might come when we struggle, when we are only good enough for third.”

“It’s still a long way to go.”

“We have to keep doing what we do, stay hungry, wanting to win…

And he did that in a matter of days.

In case you didn’t know, Hugh Hefner, you know him, he’s the guy who created this little magazine we now call us Playboy, almost got married a couple of weeks.

And if you haven’t heard, his supposed-to-be new wife Crystal Harris went runaway bride on his old fart. Hefner’s runaway bride ran all the way to Las Vegas to party on what would have been her wedding day, if you can believe that.

But not so far away in Los Angeles, the men’s mag icon, on the other hand, was staying put inside his Playboy mansion and cozying up with an older woman.

Yep, it seems Hef is moving on already. Who is this rebound girl? None other than Miss January 2011 Anna Sophia Berglund, who according to sources was spotted making out with Hef during a had-to-be-very recent movie night. “It’s clear Hef has moved on to Anna,” they say.

Anna is 24 days older than Hef’s ex-fiancee, 25-year-old Crystal Harris.

Friends of the famed publisher tell me that while Hef is ”heartbroken,” you’d be mistaken if you think a guy like him is sitting at home (or in the grotto) crying while his ex celebrates in Vegas.

”The entire Playboy brand has been built on his shoulders,” a friend and fellow…

Racing in front of his home fans, Alonso needs to finally win one for Spain.

A change in fortune for Ferrari this weekend would not go amiss as the race in Canada was a case of whatever could go wrong did go wrong after their best qualifying performance of the 2011 F1 season.

Ferrari’s ace driver, Fernando Alonso, has not had much luck in the European Grand Prix, since winning it with Renault in 2007. The Spaniard is convinced he is long overdue a better run in front of his home fans in Valencia.

After his last two races proved competitive but frustrating due to safety car periods, the double world champion remains tantalizingly close to a first win of the year.

He might have done it in Monaco, but the race was stopped as he was poised to challenge Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel for the lead, and then in Montreal he lost out in a collision with Jenson Button, McLaren-Mercedes’ eventual winner.

“I know that our fans are eagerly awaiting our first win of the season and I can assure you that the same goes for us,” the Spaniard told the Ferrari website ahead of the eighth round of the season.

“At the last two races, we showed we were clearly capable of…”

Yes, looks like there will be another lockout on our hands.

The league has issues after watching NBA owners reject their best offer to date, including a $500 million concession in salaries.

Officials for the players union went on the offensive, charging the league with distortions and unrealistic demands at the bargaining table. In a hastily called meeting with a handful of reporters, union leaders also disclosed that the NBA is seeking the return of $160 million earned by players in the 2010-11 NBA season, money that was committed under the current labor deal.

”That’s money that players have already earned, worked for this past season,” said Derek Fisher, the president of the National Basketball Players Association. ”That’s off the table, as far as we’re concerned. To me, it speaks to the arrogance that they feel in approaching us with their proposal, to be able to go back and reach for those dollars.”

Responding to Fisher’s comments, NBA commissioner David Stern said, ”Players have benefited from the current system more than the teams. For them it has been a much better partnership. We are sorry that the players union feels that way since it doesn’t seem designed to get us to the agreement that is so important to the teams, and we had hoped, the players.”

The $160 million in question is part of a withholding account, based on a deduction of 8 percent of players’ earnings; it is a mechanism to ensure that player salaries do not exceed 57 percent of league revenues. With salaries expected to fall well below that threshold this season, the players anticipate a full refund in August.

The escrow-tax dispute is emblematic of the larger battle as…