Sharapova convincing in winning Australian Open
by Matthew Cronin, tennisreporters.net
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The 2007 Sharapova won only one title and was scorched in her Grand Slam losses. The 2008 version of Sharapova was the one with the flamethrower and she will jet away from Melbourne with her third Grand Slam title tucked firmly in her pocket.
"It kept rolling and rolling, and you think good things were going to happen and they will, but it seemed like no good things were happening," Sharapova said of her 2007 campaign. "There were so many setbacks and I was left in so many tough situations. You have to appreciate every single moment you have, which is why this one is so much sweeter. When I was going through all those setbacks I tried to remember what it was like to hold those Wimbledon and U.S. Open trophies and know that I was capable of doing it before and doing it again."
Sharapova's coach, Michael Joyce, said of his 20-year-old student and friend, "Sometimes those downs actually help you to shoot back up. And a young girl like her hasn't been through a lot of ups and downs. It's been mostly up, up, up. But I kept telling her, 'It's going to make you stronger, it's going to make you stronger,' and obviously it has.''
In a remarkable four-month turnaround that began when she looked frail and vulnerable in her shocking loss to Agnieszka Radwanska at the U.S. Open and looked powerful and impenetrable in her win over Ivanovic, Sharapova is now firmly back in contention for the world's top ranking.
In one of the most impressive displays ever at a hardcourt major, Sharapova only lost 32 games without dropping a set in seven matches, trouncing the likes of three-time Grand Slam champ Lindsay Davenport, two-time Grand Slam finalist Elena Dementieva, top-ranked Justine Henin, No. 3 Jelena Jankovic and No. 4 Ivanovic.
In the final, she was rarely threatened, as Ivanovic played a nervous, erratic match in which she couldn't get her feet moving and often found herself off balance when trying to strike the ball.
Sharapova learned a lot in 2007, not just about what she needed to do to improve her overall game when her serve had to be dealt with, but how to handle a personal loss. She had grown very close to Joyce's mother, Jane, who died last spring after a long battle with cancer.
"At the end of last year when she was still struggling, we just kept talking about it and just saying there's so much more to life than just winning or losing tennis matches," Joyce said. "For a young girl at her age, sometimes when you're there it's the biggest thing, and when you go through something like that I think it puts things in perspective a little more. So maybe my Mum was helping her from up above.''
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| Maria Sharapova added the Aussie title to her '04 Wimbledon and '06 U.S. Open crowns. (ROMEO GACAD/AFP / Getty Images) |
While Sharapova was in cruise control on the court, it wasn't that easy off it. After Sharapova had crushed top-ranked Henin 6-4, 6-0 in the quarterfinals, her intense father was caught on camera giving a throat slitting gesture while dressed in fatigue hoodie.
Yuri Sharapova, who keeps pretty much to himself, was roundly criticized even though the gesture was suppossed to be an inside joke between he and Maria, who had taken to telling him that he looked like an assassin in the hoodie. But there was no avoiding hearing the rest of the tennis world saying that what Yuri did in public was in very bad taste, inside joke or not.
"It was a tough night," said Joyce, who added that it was a joke that occurred after Henin had already left the court. "It turned into this thing, but she's used to that. I think she read one morning that some seal was born to her grunts or something, so you just try to look past all that stuff."
While Yuri has a tough exterior and often looks overly intense when he's rooting on his daughter, he sees himself as a regular person even though he hardly interacts with anyone outside of Maria's camp. After her victory, Yuri walked by a FOXSports.com reporter and a TV analyst in the hall and said, "See, I'm a great guy, a great guy. Why were you talking about the hood?"
His daughter says that they have an equitable enough relationship that she can go up to him and tell him to put a lid on it.
"Even when I was a kid I did that," Sharapova said. "That's never stopped me before. He knows me very well with that. Some things never change."
Like the great champions before her, Sharapova has few problems putting her off-court distractions behind her. It's her expansive refuge, where she can go about her work and stick her earplugs in.
"When I go on court and open the gates, it's my escape from the talk, outside life, anywhere," she said. "When I step on court it's a place I love to be in and nothing will ever change that. I just draw my attention to what I want to work on and how I can play better. Everything else is just gone."
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| Ana Ivanovic looked nervous and unsure in the final. (GREG WOOD/AFP / Getty Images) |
While the final was lacking in quality, that cannot be blamed on Sharapova, who did what she needed to win the contest. She served very well and with terrific placement, winning early on her service points and rarely allowing Ivanovic to jump on her second serve
For as hard as she competed, Ivanovic was disappointed in her performance. She never found her ferocious forehand, and without it she had no chance in the match. She was unable to dictate consistently and then had to go to a hazy Plan B, where she came into net on mediocre approach shots and was frequently passed.
For her part, Sharapova served efficiently and cleanly struck the ball off the ground. She didn't have to play spectacularly, only well enough to keep her nose in front and watch Ivanovic implode. The Serbian committed 33 errors to 16 for Sharapova, who only lost two points on her serve in the second set.
While Sharapova is only five months older than Ivanovic, she looked like a well-schooled nanny leading a weeping toddler around by the ear.
Sharapova has won three Grand Slam titles, passing current player Amelie Mauresmo on the list. She's one behind Hall of Famer Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, three behind Venus Williams, four behind Henin and five behind Serena Williams.
She has a good chance to catch them all, because she's only 20 and the Williams sisters and Henin are all 25-plus.
But she's feels much older than her 20 years, because since winning Wimbledon as a 17-year-old back in 2004, she's been expected to put up one big title after another, even though her game is still maturing. Moreover, she's become her own cottage/mansion industry and is now earning an estimated $30 million a year, by far the most of any female athlete on the planet.
But she's earned her place in tennis history and don't dare tell her otherwise.
"When I see other 20-year-olds driving in their Range Rover and I get dirty looks and they are saying, 'That spoiled brat, who is that, her father probably bought her Range Rover.' And I'm like, 'No, honey, I bought that for myself.' I know that I worked for mine."
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