MARIA SHARAPOVA

Saturday, September 4, 2004

Maria Sharapova’s 14 double faults Saturday were one too many.

On serve in the third set with No. 27-seeded Mary Pierce, Maria Sharapova hit her second serve too long, giving Pierce a 5-3 lead. Pierce served the match out, winning when Maria Sharapova hit her 47th unforced error into the net. Pierce turned to her brother and coach, David, and smiled, and then pointed toward the sky and said “Thank you God.” After shaking hands with Maria Sharapova and the umpire, the veteran Pierce knelt in front of her chair and covered her eyes, which were quickly welled up with tears.

The Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd gave Pierce a standing ovation for the 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win that moved her into the fourth round of the 2004 US Open. The win ensured that Maria Sharapova would not follow up her Wimbledon championship with a second successive Grand Slam, and reminded the women’s tennis circuit that Pierce, especially in front of these Flushing, Queens crowds that have learned to embrace her, is not near the end of her career, despite back and shoulder injuries in recent years.

“I haven’t accomplished everything that I want to yet in my career, that’s why I’m still playing,” Pierce said. “I just know that I still have something left inside of me to accomplish, and I don’t know exactly what that is. Hopefully, I’ll know one day soon.”

After dropping the first set to the seventh-seeded Maria Sharapova, Pierce played like the Mary Pierce of 1995, the one who held the world’s No. 3 ranking and won the Australian Open (or the 2000 edition that captured the French Open and also was third in the world). She made just 13 errors in the last two sets, combining improbably well-struck returns off formidable Maria Sharapova first serves with powerful groundstrokes that ran her Russian opponent ragged back and forth on the baseline.

Although Maria Sharapova has been treated like the Hollywood star of the women’s draw, one would not have noticed inside the arena. “C’mon Mary” was heard just as often as “C’mon Maria,” and Pierce thrived on it. She was intense and she was precise, the latter of which Maria Sharapova struggled with. Seven of Maria Sharapova’s 14 double faults came in the second set, one in which she was broken twice and committed 19 unforced errors to Pierce’s eight. In the third, Pierce was broken, but broke back in consecutive games to gain the only chance she would need to serve out the match.

In winning the first set, Maria Sharapova broke Pierce once and made it stick, despite winning just three more points than Pierce. In taking the second and third, Pierce acted as the favorite, winning 22 more points than Maria Sharapova and breaking her serve four times to one. Maria Sharapova took several chances on second serves, sometimes hitting them just as hard as her first effort. She said that, and not a flaw in her swing, was the reason for the double faults.

“I think I just tried to go for it too much at the wrong times,” Maria Sharapova said. “I think on a few balls, she put some pressure on me, and that made me want to hit the ball harder. Those are the things I just have to sort of realize and learn from.”

Maria Sharapova wore a black ribbon near her heart in support of the victims of the terrorist situation at a school in her native Russia, and after the match she said the situation helped put her loss into perspective.

“It just shows that my loss, with what’s going on in the world today, is a little thing,” Maria Sharapova said.

So for the seventh time in her career, Pierce moves on to the fourth round of the US Open, where she will play No. 9 Svetlana Kuznetsova. The 17-year-old Maria Sharapova leaves after going one round further than she did in 2003, her only prior Open.

“It would definitely be nice to win here,” Pierce said. “Why not?”

Tuesday, August 31, 2004

The 2004 US Open wasn’t supposed to start like this for reigning Wimbledon champion and women’s No. 7 seed Maria Sharapova.

Tied at one set apiece in prime-time television on Tuesday night against the plucky and resourceful American Laura Granville, Maria Sharapova, the new “it” girl of the women’s tour, was scraping and battling to avoid first-round elimination.

Just 3-3 in limited singles action since conquering the All England Club, the rust showed tonight.

The young Russian blonde Maria Sharapova committed a startling 44 unforced errors, many of them during a forgettable second set in which Granville seized the window of opportunity and grabbed the second set.

With poise, precision and determination, Granville played to win, hitting several of her 14 winners during the streak.

The turning point of the match arrived quickly at the start of the third set.

Letting up her guard just enough to allow Maria Sharapova to get back into the match, Granville allowed a cardinal sin, dropping serve in the first game of the set.

Following a surprising break from Granville to level the final set at 1-1, Maria Sharapova plodded along methodically, occasionally slapping herself on the leg, mouthing words of encouragement, and broke lose of the funk that had carried with her through much of the match.

A key break at 5-5 gave Maria Sharapova all the wiggle room that she needed to eek out of the first round, put the match behind her, and prepare for the next round.

A fourth first-round exit in Granville’s past five US Open campaigns, this latest loss didn’t tell the story of a player whose stock is most certainly on the rise.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to play in Ashe Stadium,” said Granville minutes before taking to the US Open center court for the very first time.

We have a feeling it won’t be Maria Sharapova’s last.

by Nick Bollettieri
Monday, August 30, 2004
I’m guilty. That’s right your honor… I’m here today to defend the incredibly talented 2004 Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, as you are well aware, there is a plethora of information floating around out there about this young lady. With your permission, I would like to separate fact from fiction.

Here are the facts: Maria Sharapova spent her early childhood living in Siberia. She started playing tennis at 5 years old, but the weather and lack of sufficient facilities hindered her development as a player. Her parents made the difficult decision that if Maria Sharapova was going to reach her full potential, she had to leave her homeland and train somewhere else.

Maria Sharapova and her parents had many hurdles they had to clear along the way. Maria Sharapova and her father Yuri were able to get the necessary visas to leave Russia; however, Maria Sharapova’s mother was not so fortunate and had to stay behind. Yuri and his little 7-year-old daughter Maria Sharapova set out for America. Their first stop was playing at parks and clubs in the Venice/Fort Myers, Fla., area.

Maria Sharapova was in the right place at the right time when Betsy McCormack from IMG Academies saw her play and told her she needed to be training at the Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton. So they headed north. Maria Sharapova lived in the dorms and trained with a group of young players in the junior program on campus. Her father worked all kinds of odd jobs in order to survive and to give his daughter the opportunity to train with the best.

Through normal rotation, she finally got a chance to play on my court. I hadn’t noticed her before because she was so young and so thin that if she stood sideways she disappeared completely. But in that tiny package was the determination of a champion. She would hit the ball with all her might every time. At that age, hitting it hard was much more important to her than where it actually went.

Maria Sharapova’s father was constantly taking notes. He would study and listen to what the professional coaches said and what the professional players did. At night he would review his notes with Maria Sharapova.

Maria Sharapova is a creature of habit. In training, she walks on the court and goes directly to the baseline. She loves hitting the same shot to the same place over and over again. She absolutely hates missing one ball. If Maria Sharapova had her way, she would stay close to the baseline and never back up.

Maria Sharapova is a student of the game, just like her father. She not only enjoys playing the physical part of the game, but she breaks the game down mentally. Maria Sharapova tries to learn something from every game and every player she goes up against.

Maria Sharapova is personable and friendly to others off the court… but once she steps onto the court there is little love lost between her and her competition. She is out to accomplish one thing… to win.

Her style of play became apparent as she developed into a professional. She likes to hit the ball early and hits it very flat. Maria Sharapova likes to control the court and returns every ball as if it is the deciding play. When she does get into trouble, she goes for the big shot.

To her credit, she is a 17-year-old girl who has already won the Toyko AIG Open, Quebec City and Birmingham, and she is the reigning Wimbledon champion. Now she has her sights set on another Grand Slam win — the US Open.

Since her recent win at Wimbledon, she has lost several tournaments. She is great but not invincible. Maria Sharapova has now become the player to beat. Psychologically, that can either motivate a player to greatness or cripple them with the fear of failure. The US Open could be a pivotal tournament in Maria Sharapova’s career. It all depends not only on the outcome but how she handles it.

My prediction for the first-round match between Maria Sharapova and Laura Granville is as follows… Maria Sharapova will hit every ball on the rise with very little spin. She will serve with one thought in mind — get a short defensive return and go for broke. She will not serve a pushy second serve but will once again go for the big serve.

Maria Sharapova will move Laura at all times and come in whenever possible. She will return serves for winners. Laura was a big hopeful for America but has not lived up to her expectations. Laura moves very well and will come to the net. Her groundstrokes are also hit with very little spin, but that demands she be in position at all times or the balls will fly.

PREDICTION: Granville must attack and accept that if she pushes every part of the game, it will be over. Maria Sharapova in 2 sets.

CONCLUSION: I sincerely feel the Open will strain Maria Sharapova physically, but not mentally. In her draw, she will not be hard-pressed for two or three rounds. It will be interesting to see how she performs as she moves her way towards the top.