SI.com spoke with Sports Illustrated tennis writer Jon Wertheim, who broke down a wild day at Wimbledon that saw two dramatic semifinal comebacks and set up a showdown between Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams in the women's final.

Maria Sharapova is the second youngest women's finalist at Wimbledon in the Open era. AP

SI.com: What does Sharapova's win mean for tennis?

Wertheim: It's all well and good to make the quarterfinals as she did in Paris, but this is really announcing herself. And to do it the way she's done it is really amazing: She reaches the quarters on her worst surface at the French Open, and then two weeks later she beats a previous Wimbledon champion in the semis after losing the first set. That's pretty big.

Three of the last four Grand Slam finalists have been Russian (two in France and one at Wimbledon), and in the past some of us would say it was quantity over quality, but you can't make that claim anymore. This tournament ushers Sharapova in, but it also cements this Russian era.

SI.com: Can we now stop the obligatory Anna Kournikova comparisons?

Wertheim: As a player, at age 17, Sharapova has now surpassed anything Anna has ever done. But you're a blonde from Russia, who went to Bollettieri Tennis Academy and posed for GQ, what do you expect? But from strictly a tennis standpoint, she's already outstripped anything Anna's done.

This will help Sharapova gain respect as a tennis player. A lot of us tennis writers were impressed by her, but we were gun-shy to hype her because we didn't want to fall into the trap -- a lot of people did with Anna -- where she was this media creation. Being the next Anna is not necessarily a compliment, so Sharapova really needed to prove she wasn't just a marketing vehicle and now she's done that.

You're pretty, you're blonde, and you've never won a tournament so people begrudge you your attention. You're pretty, you're blonde and you beat a former champ to reach the Wimbledon final, it's well earned. This girl is a player.

SI.com: Lindsay Davenport has been talking retirement. How should she be remembered in tennis history?

Wertheim: Davenport was the glue that kept this tour together. She wasn't on magazine covers, she wasn't in catfights, or going out with rock stars, but she was the adult in the tennis world. It will be sad to see her go.

She was one of the great overachievers. It must be nice to retire and know that you've exceeded your expectations. Davenport was limited as an athlete, but she still managed to win three Slams, become No. 1 and play in the Olympics. Through it all she kept her sanity and was the voice of reason. It was easy to overlook her, but she was the grownup in this cast.

SI.com: What were your impressions of the Serena Williams-Amelie Mauresmo semifinal match?

Wertheim: Serena was sloppier than I thought she would be. But if someone had told you that this match was going to 4-all in the third set, who would you put your money on? You'd get long odds on Mauresmo.

SI.com: How will this loss affect Mauresmo, who has to be extremely disappointed?

Wertheim: Devastating. She had Serena in the second set, and then when things got tight in the third, Mauresmo lost six of the last seven points. That's got to hurt. She was playing well going in and in control of the match, and then it just slipped away.

I don't know how much the physical is connected to the mental. Clearly she wasn't moving and serving as well as the match progressed. But a lot of times the mental and physical get conflated. It's always a convenient out to say, "my back (or shoulder) is acting up."

These matches play out like this too often for Mauresmo. When the match gets tight, she gets tight. Last year Justine Henin-Hardenne talked about this [can't-win-the-big-one issue] in regard to herself. She said you can go to a sports psychiatrist for years, but once you win a Major, the mental part is never a problem again.  Do it once, and you are off the hook.

SI.com: How great a matchup is Williams vs. Sharapova?

Wertheim: Could be good, could be terrible. It just depends on whether Sharapova gets overwhelmed by the occasion. She's played big matches before, and she's a pretty steely player, but until they're out there for a Wimbledon final, you don't know how someone is going to act. If she comes to play, as she has these first six matches, this could be a really exciting final. But if she gets overwhelmed, this could be a 6-2, 6-2 55-minute stinker.

SI.com: OK, picks time: Williams or Sharapova?

Wertheim: You've got to go with Serena.

SI.com: Best story to come out of the men's tournament so far?

Wertheim: Andy Roddick and Roger Federer have really separated themselves from the rest of the pack. If these guys can consistently face off in the finals of big events -- whether they be Grand Slams or Masters Series -- that would be great.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Wertheim covers tennis for the magazine and is a regular contributor to SI.com.