Ave Maria? Oy Vey, Maria

Maria Sharapova's season has seen its dips and swirls—and that's just her serve. She's the all-but-American No. 2 and had a chance, with Caroline Wozniacki's early ouster in Tokyo, of taking over the WTA penthouse late this fall. Those hopes were dashed in a second when she scarily twisted her ankle after coming down from a serve against Petra Kvitova in their Wimbledon rematch. Sharapova's ankle reportedly swelled to the size of a tennis ball even in the minutes after the sprain.

Here's video of the incident, with Sharapova serving at 3-4, 40-15. Too bad, as the match could have shaped up to a stunner.

Another look at her swollen leg here, if you ever wished to see what Maria might look like with her very own "cankle." Youch! She revealed on Facebook a shot of her with a certain homegrown Tokyo star who visited her to lend a treatment aid.

Sharapova announced a day later that she wouldn't play in Beijing but hopes to be in Istanbul for the Year-End Championships (YEC). That's good news for the WTA, which needs its Star-apova, and when the Williamses are—again—noticeably absent and ailing. (To note, while Serena Williams has a 2.2-million-plus haul of Twitter followers, Sharapova still runs the table on tour with more than 5.6 million Facebook followers.)

Want to see shots of a far less frazzled, less sweaty Sharapova? Check out these Cole Haan campaign shots that her photographer friend Adir Abegel just revealed on Facebook. Maria's ballet flat has been Cole Haan's top-selling shoe, and so this is quite the reciprocal relationship. Here's hoping that she soon also meets her WTA rivals halfway—around the world.

—Jonathan Scott (@jonscott9)