Australian Open 2012 Results: Maria Sharapova Will Not Be Silenced

The shrieking has once again come under fire as Maria Sharapova moves gracefully to the finals. Make no mistake: Neither the loud grunts nor the stunning wins will be extinguished Down Under. 

Melbourne may be home to millions of Aussies who could care less if Sharapova shrieks, grunts or yelps. The sport has its fine sensibilities, and Sharapova honors them more in winning than she does in keeping her trap shut. 

Sharapova has a few recent victims that she dismissed coolly and without bother. On Day 10 of the Australian Open, Sharapova took on fellow country woman Ekaterina Makarova. 

What was supposed to be a spirited match was more of a coming-out party for Sharapova and her continued claims to the No. 1 spot in the world. 

That claim may be reality once again if she continues to dominate the way she did against Makarova, winning 6-2, 6-3. She wasn't the only lady that would taste the cold hard steel of Sharapova. 

As The Telegraph reports, No. 8 Agnieszka Radwanska took umbrage with Sharapova and the incessant shrieking on the court. She did so shortly after her own quarterfinal match that she happened to lose to Victoria Azarenka. 

Sour grapes may have been the impetus for disgust, but it served to rile the Russian star. Sharapova told reporters the following: 

"

Isn’t she back in Poland already? When did she get the chance to say that? I’ve been the same over the course of my career. No one important enough has told me to change or do something different.

"

And that is how you put people in their place. The time for conformity and demurred playing is over in the sport. It's time, at last, to accept that Sharapova is just going to get louder and more boisterous.

She was back with her same bark in the semifinal against Petra Kvitova, in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 victory. The two were entrenched in a tooth-and-nail battle that was Sharapova's in the end. The ghosts of Wimbledon failure had been avenged. 

It's now time to proclaim that injuries and malaise is through holding a grip on her career. The Australian Open has served to illustrate that she is back as the top lady in the world, and she will hold that title officially by the time this tournament is over.

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