Thursday, February 27, 2020

The Impassion of the Supernova

su*per*no*va* (soo'puhr-NOH-vuh)
n. A rare celestial phenomenon in which a star explodes, resulting in an extremely bright, short-lived object.

After decades of effort, chance, desire and success that saw her transform from an anonymous Siberian girl with a dream (and a racket nearly as big as she was) into an international superstar with a Hall of Fame track record on the court as well as a celebrity status and business portfolio that may yet make her an ever larger success off it, Maria Sharapova's relationship with the competitive aspect of tennis has finally come to an end.



After officially bringing down the curtain on her life as a professional athlete by announcing her retirement from the WTA tour some twenty-eight years after she began the personal journey that altered the entire trajectory of her life, to unbiased eyes it was clear that the sport was far better off for having had her around. And vice versa.



Don't worry about Sharapova, or about whether she'll miss picking up a racket as badly as her longtime fans will miss watching her do so. She'll be fine without tennis, as she's spent the bulk of her playing career preparing for this very moment. Already the founder of a successful candy company (Sugarpova), expect her post-tennis reach to expand exponentially as her vast network of contacts -- in the business, financial, art, fashion and entertainment worlds -- and effective style of self-promotion will likely open the doors to (or create) boardrooms that even she can't yet envision today.



Maybe more than any player in the modern era, Sharapova maximized the fame and opportunity that tennis offered her *away* from the game. From the instant she won Wimbledon at the tender age of 17 in 2004, the "business of Maria" walked side-by-side with what became an historic -- though hardly "perfect" -- athletic career that didn't just "break the mold" for what a worldly tennis player could desire to become, but cast an entirely new one that improved and greatly expanded upon the model only hinted at a generation earlier by fellow Russian Anna Kournikova. The Sharapova Model has become an aspirational ideal for current and future players to seek to emulate, no matter from what part of the globe they hail. Some have successfully imitated individual aspects of her overall success, but combining then all has so far been an elusive feat.

Luckily for tennis, Sharapova wasn't content with simply turning her early tennis triumphs into business opportunities.

Early in her career, she seemed set to threaten to dominate the sport. Two years after winning Wimbledon, she reached #1 at age 18. A year later, she won the U.S. Open. Two years after that, she won the Australian Open. She was 20 years old and flying high. Three-quarters of the way to a Career Slam, she was arguably the most competitive player on tour. Anything seemed possible.

But no tennis career is "perfect."

Over the course of her time on tour, only one thing ever truly stopped Sharapova dead in her tracks. Well, two, actually: Serena Williams and a misdiagnosed shoulder injury that threatened to make her her generation's most intriguing "what if?" subject. Ultimately, Sharapova overcame the injury (for the most part). Williams, not so much.

After a necessary shoulder surgery at the end of '08 saved her career (she'd played for months with a torn rotator cuff that wasn't discovered until summer), Sharapova recovered and slowly changed the entire focus of her game, going from a fast court specialist whose serve was the most important weapon in her arsenal to a player who employed more variety, with improved court mobility, who eventually became the tour's top clay courter on a surface she'd once joked made her look like "a cow on ice." When she won her first of two Roland Garros crowns in 2012 she not only became just the tenth woman to complete the Career Slam (sixth in the Open era, and the only to finish the set in the last seventeen years) but her return to the winner's circle made her the only player in tennis history to have claimed a major title after shoulder surgery.



While Sharapova helped to open a realistic door to all sorts dreams for players who also hailed from far-away-from-the-center-of-anything locales in Eastern Europe, she will never be viewed as the "cultural touchstone" that Williams has become, nor the overwhelming champion. But neither will anyone else. To judge Sharapova solely against the legendary career of Williams, whose defeat at SW19 sixteen years ago created the tennisquake after which everything else followed for the Russian, would be incredibly unfair, not to mention fairly narrow-minded.

While Sharapova's two wins over Williams in '04 helped to "create" her personal story, they also placed her squarely in the (so far) 23-time slam champion's tennis crosshairs, as she never lost to her again, eventually ending up with a 20-2 edge in their all-time series. But, save for a rare exception or two, such a won/lost disparity is common for nearly every longtime opponent of Williams... the careers of which leave all but a select few (you could count them on one hand and have fingers left over) *behind* that of Sharapova in terms of accomplishment and/or impact over the course of her nearly two decades on tour.


The final years of Sharapova's career were spiked with controversy and (more) injuries. Her suspension after a positive test for the newly banned medication meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open (following a QF loss to Williams, naturally) kicked off an era of sometimes-unbridled criticism of the Russian for past perceived slights and often ugly and/or misinformed accusations regarding her character, many of which continue to this day even after her two-year suspension was reduced to fifteen months after the Court of Arbitration for Sports found that she had committed "no significant fault" and that she had taken the substance "based on a doctor's recommendation... with good faith belief that it was appropriate and compliant with the relevant rules." That Sharapova had been prescribed the medication as a precaution when she was a teenager, and hadn't hidden the use, while the announcement of the drug's ban had come in the "fine print" of an offseason email, and became official due to no actual scientific reasoning or evidence of "wrongdoing" other than the fact that the drug enforcement agency realized that many Eastern European athletes had it in their systems will likely always remain a point of contention between those who wield the facts of the situation and those who choose to selectively observe an "alternate" reality. But in this age when truth is viewed by some as being as fluid as the oceans, and misinformation and social media asshattery often rules the conversation, one has come to expect such things.

Her long period of competitive inactivity likely fated Sharapova to something other than a triumphant finish to her career. Arm and shoulder injuries quickly accompanied her return, and were never held at bay for long. While she won a singles title early in her comeback in late 2017, she never won another, and reached just one QF in nine slam appearances. Though Sharapova continued to try, the injuries made it more and more difficult to sustain the success that was only occasionally reminiscent of her former self (ala her Night 1 upset of #2-seeded Simona Halep at the U.S. Open in '17), and made having the ability to compete for major titles virtually impossible. Ultimately, the work/reward ratio reached its tipping point. Whether Sharapova "needed" tennis any longer, the sport was moving on. As it always does. When she exited in the opening round of this year's Australian Open (vs. Donna Vekic), Sharapova hadn't won a match since last August. She never played again. As she announced her retirement on Wednesday, she was ranked #373.

Every athlete's career eventually comes to an end. In tennis, from the moment a player takes their first swing of a racket the countdown to 00:00 has begun. Every match, win and title brings the moment that much closer. Some leave the sport with little fanfare, nor after having garnered much notice.

Not Sharapova, whose career has supplied a rich basket of persistent images and memories that will long linger. From her bombastic arrival to her reaffirming resurgence. From the punches to the thigh, clenched fists and hops back in the direction of the action of the next point, to the shrieking power (both audible and physically forceful) and unflinching will to win that made her one of the most feared competitors in the sport. The mind's eye will hold onto Sharapova's on-court essence for quite some time. Off it, her story has and will continue to inspire others to dream big, against all odds.



Tennis is better for having had the pleasure of her presence, and the life she has and will now live would likely never have been remotely possible without the sport that she loved. Sometimes everything works out for everyone, and the symbiotic results are legendary.



And, anyway, as far as Maria is concerned, it's not the end... it's just the beginning of what comes next.



=RE-POSTS TABLE OF CONTENTS=
1. 2004 Wimbledon: "The Passion of the Supernova"
2. 2006 U.S. Open: "Exquisite in the City"
3. 2000-09 Decade's Best: Player #3
4. 2012 Miami: "Watch Out...The Radwanska Might Get You"
5. 2012 Roland Garros: "A Star is Reborn"
6. 2010-19 Decade's Best: Player #7



["The Passion of the Supernova" - Wimbledon 2004 - Backspin Time Capsule Edition]

If Anastasia Myskina's title run in Paris in June of 2004 was a tremor, then Maria Sharapova's win at Wimbledon was an earthquake that cracked the mantle of the earth and broke the tennis world into two distinct pieces: the Russians and the rest of the WTA.

Unlike with Myskina, though, we saw Sharapova coming. She arrived on the tennis scene as an immediate dual threat, both on and off court. She was a winner out of the gate, taking two singles titles and being named WTA "Newcomer of the Year" as a 16-year old in her first full season on tour in '03, while she additionally carried with her the promise of a Nike marketing campaign just waiting to happen. Sharapova was already a hot commodity with "star" written all over her before she, as I called it then, "went Supernova" at the All-England Club in the summer of '04. On the heels of the phenomenon that was the career of another blonde Russian, Anna Kournikova, Sharapova was seen as the "total package." Her looks could sell anything, but she also had the enticing ability to do what Kournikova never did -- become a true champion.

Maria was Kournikova 2.0 ...it was just a matter of when it was going to become official.

And then it did.


=July 6, 2004=


Maria Sharapova is a liar. Ever after she'd raised Wimbledon's championship plate above her head as the tournament's third youngest singles titlist, she still expressed disbelief about what had happened to her over the previous two weeks at the All-England Club. Don't believe it for a second... she's been preparing for the moment her entire life. In the end, the only thing that didn't work perfectly was her dad's mobile phone.

If the breakthrough Act I of the Russian Tennis Revolution in Paris was necessary, then Act II in England was simply cosmic.

In her 6-1/6-4 victory over two-time defending Wimbledon champion Serena Williams, the transcript of the 17-year old Sharapova's game day tactics was most assuredly not for the faint of heart -- it read that her goal was to essentially exchange hay-makers in the center of the proverbial ring with a heavyweight champ with knockout power... and hope to succeed in the face of her surely star-crossed fate. But the Siberian-born usurper of the Williams family's SW19 power base pulled off what would have seemed impossible even to those of us not surprised to see her game rise to so high a level over the English fortnight. Sharapova routinely dictated points, often backing Williams into an uncharacteristic corner (or at least plastering her to the baseline, when she wasn't racing to her left or right to chase down another potentially lethal winner that so recently had come flying off the Supernova's Prince racket). Judging by her actions, you might have sworn the teenager thought a Wimbledon title was her birthright. Well, maybe it was.

Down 2-4 in the second set, and with everyone expecting Serena to turn up her intensity as she had in the tight semifinal battle with Amelie Mauresmo two days earlier, Sharapova didn't accept the seeming reality that she'd have to play an additional set of tennis on a glorious Saturday afternoon. Instead, she broke Williams' serve and held her own. Then, she broke the American once again to take a 5-4 lead as Williams slipped at the baseline and watched her advantage fully transform into a deficit that she wasn't going to be able to turn back in her favor. Maybe I was seeing things, but I don't think so -- someone will have to do some convincing to get me to believe that that wasn't an invisible gremlin's hand I sensed reaching up from the earth to make sure everything went as planned.

It was a fitting bit of irony that the two biggest female stars at this year's Wimbledon were Sharapova and Martina Navratilova. At age 6, Sharapova made her "debut" by hitting balls at an exhibition with Navratilova, then a sprightly gal of a mere 36 years of age. The would-be Supernova was literally dancing in the shadow of a legend. Eleven years later, Martina was the headliner at the beginning of play, gaining the first victory of the women's draw. By the end, though, it was Yuri's one-time little girl who was casting her own shadow on the entire sport by gaining the last.


Oddly, some seemed to view what happened on Centre Court as a stunning shock that has somehow blindsided women's tennis, as if Sharapova's immense display of talent came without the required forewarning. Not Backspin. After about a year and a half of columns that have chronicled the wait for the inevitable to occur, it was more of a relief than a revelation when "The Supernova" officially went supernova. If the sport's lucky, she'll be burning intensely at a tennis complex near you around the world for most of the next decade.

"It's 'Maria Time' now." That's how the new Wimbledon ladies champ described things a short while ago.

Her time, indeed. As forecast here (and promised by Miss Sharapova), this is suddenly Maria's World... and we're just living in it. At the moment, she's busy pulling up a chair to the WTA's "big person's table," right next to the Belgians, Williamses, and a few stray Americans, Frenchwomen or Russian compatriots as the true contenders for the game's biggest honors (hey, she's already shot up the Backspin Player of the Year poll!). The Supernova's arrival as a dominant force could forecast a series of bad tidings as far as the on-court prospects of those players not currently present at that aforementioned head table are concerned. Actually, if Saturday's mix of Federer-esque shotmaking, Grafian power and a young Seles-like fearlessness was any indication, even a few of her new table mates might soon need a passport to go beyond a certain point. Kim Clijsters might never get that elusive slam crown now (pardon me if I don't break down in tears at that prospect).

Alas, celestial supernovae don't endure forever. They burn with spectacular brilliance, but last a relatively short time. But fresh off her greatest day, Sharapova's feet seem set firmly on the ground. That's good news for us, the Russian Revolution, teenage girls (and boys, teenage or otherwise), TV ratings and magazine sales... and even better news for tennis.

Plus, it also might begin to explain that pesky phone problem.



="Time Capsule" comments (2014)=

Heart-fueled champions aren't built, they're born. When Sharapova was first gaining notice as the latest hard-hitting teenager to emerge from the Nick Bollettieri Academy at the start of the 2000's, there was the more-than-lingering thought that she might turn out to be more hype than heroine.

But Sharapova changed all that in one fell swoop in 2004.


Ten years later, the Russian has traveled both a brilliant and rocky road. But as we saw during her recent Roland Garros title run -- her second in Paris, to win her fifth major crown -- no player perseveres with more competitive fire than the Russian. The natural trait was there when she was 17. You didn't have to look very intently to see it, either. It was right on the surface. It still is.

It's why she's just as relevant at 27 as she was at 17, after a Hall of Fame career that still might have a few great chapters left to be written.

Sharapova, or should I say "The Supernova," was the first WTA phenomenon of the "Backspin era." On the heels of Kournikova's inability to combine off-court marketability with high-level on-court success (though Anna K. is perennially undersold as a player, as she WAS a slam semifinalist, Top 10 singles player and doubles #1, even if she didn't manage to win a tour singles title before injuries finally brought an early end to her career), Sharapova promised to be an upgrade to the original model. And she was, putting the appropriate championship spin on the formula and opening doors to barrier-crossing athletic respectability that had been long closed to her predecessor. By winning Wimbledon at just 17 in '04 -- she's still the youngest slam winner in the last sixteen years, since a 16-year old Martina Hingis won the U.S. Open in 1997 -- she established her generation's template for a tennis "starlet" who could also be the most famous female athlete in the world, yet still contend for major titles.

Being a star is one thing, but simultaneously maintaining the foundation of a champion is another. Since Sharapova perfected the combination, no one has managed to do it nearly as well.

Sharapova's opponent at Wimbledon on that history-making day in '04, Serena Williams, too, after some trial and error, came to fit the role of a tour-endorsed superstar/champion, but she usually had to create her own press -- or demand it with thrilling on-court dominance -- rather than have the higher-ups do the early groundwork work for her, likely because the people that make such decisions thought she presented "too strong" a physical presence... a notion just as ridiculous as the one that prevented Martina Navratilova from starring in a major American television commercial for over twenty years because she was gay (just as snide and/sexist remarks have accompanied both Amelie Mauresmo's rise as a top player in the late 1990's, and now as one of the first female coaches of a top male player, Andy Murray).

But while Sharapova had an "advantage" in some areas, she worked hard to bring both sides of her legacy together into one legendary career.

Almost from the start, the teenage Sharapova projected the multi-sided image of a player who could be the subject of a photoshoot one day, in a business meeting with high-paying sponsors the next, and then go out and win a major title the following weekend. It's a presence worth it's weight in gold for the WTA tour, and the powers-that-be are always trying to hype the next "one," sometimes to both the detriment of the player and, at times, even the tour's own reputation as an ATHLETIC organization. But, with Sharapova, the line never seemed to be crossed into exploitation... and that's because the woman who is Sharapova her never allowed it to be the case. With her, image wasn't the only thing, it was simply one of many. She stated emphatically at the start that she didn't want to be a "tennis babe," but had her sights set on being a winner. And unlike many who've come before and after her, she recognized the pitfalls and was ready for them all from Day One.

It's a trait not to be undersold. And, boy, it never is, either. Sharapova has used it to soar to great off-court heights in business endeavors, and will likely continue to do so long after her playing career is over.

But everything discussed here so far has just been surface niceties. It's Sharapova's actual tennis career that has given all the off-the-court extracurriculars -- from commercials to glamor shots to media-friendly promotional appearances -- added cultural weight, serving to give her a personal "importance" within-and-outside the sport that allows her standing to arguably rise above players with perhaps a few additional major titles. And as far as that career goes, it didn't take long to learn everything we needed to know about the seriousness of her desire to be more than a multimedia star.

In 2003, in her first full season on tour, Sharapova finished in the Top 50, reached the Wimbledon Round of 16 and won the first two titles of her career as a 16-year old. By the middle of the following season, she arrived at Wimbledon with her name flagged in the draw as one to watch. She'd just won a small grass event in Birmingham, and the buzz about her was starting to hit the mainstream. Few expected her to e-x-p-l-o-d-e onto the scene at the All-England Club that summer, though. I was lucky enough to actually pick the #15 seed to reach the final before the tournament began, but I surely didn't think my "wild card" selection might actually SURPASS my surprise prediction. But that's just what she did.

Down 6-2/3-1 in the '04 semifinals against Lindsay Davenport, Sharapova first showed the no-lead-is-safe fire that has since become commonplace in a career filled with comeback wins. After using a game plan in the final that was heavy on penetrating groundstrokes that pinned the flummoxed defending champ at the baseline, Sharapova quickly proved her SW19 arrival was no fluke as she backed up her result by once again defeating Serena in the final of the Season-Ending Championships, coming back from a 0-4 deficit in the 3rd set against an injured-but-desperate Williams who was putting everything she had into nearly every shot in an attempt to drag herself over the finish line with a flourish before she could physically go no further. She almost did it, too. But Sharapova gathered herself, didn't succumb to the pressure of the moment and an ailing-but-still-lethal opponent and claimed the final six games of the match.

In August 2005, she became the first Russian woman to grab the #1 ranking, and the fifth-youngest (18 years, 4 months) to do so in WTA history. A year later, she stepped into the spotlight seemingly made for her at the U.S. Open. Sporting what many dubbed her "little black dress" tennis outfit, she was "Exquisite in the City" in a way that only the Supernova could be, ruling the nighttime in round after round as la belle dame sans merci. After defeating world #1 Mauresmo in the SF (her first victory over the Frenchwoman), she ended a personal four-match losing streak against Justine Henin in the final, winning in straight sets 6-4/6-4.

Sharapova narrowly missed claiming the year-end #1 ranking for '06, coming in second (behind Henin, ahead of two-time slam winner Mauresmo) in a three-way battle for the spot at the SEC that November. Nevertheless, she again rose into the #1 position the following January. Then, one year later, she climbed yet another career mountain.

In Melbourne in '08, Sharapova won the Australian Open title in dominating fashion, not dropping a set and handily knocking off Ana Ivanovic in the final. In winning her third different slam of the 2000's, she joined only Serena and Henin in accomplishing the feat during the decade. With her game looking better than ever, the "Sharapova Scenario" that I once theorized about seemed a potential reality. She began the year on a 27-2 tear, and when Henin made her surprise retirement announcement in the spring it was Sharapova who inherited her #1 ranking. The Russian seemed a natural fit to fill what would later be called the "power vacuum" at the top of the Henin-less game. 2008 might have been the year of Sharapova's dreams.

As things turned out, she very nearly suffered the same shortened-career fate that Kournikova did, as the REST of the definition of a "supernova" -- the part which notes the short-lived nature of such a phenomenon -- threatened to become reality and cut short her tennis life. She was barely 21 years old in 2008 when her shoulder betrayed her. Or, maybe, I should say that the doctors who misdiagnosed her rotator cuff tear for months on end did so. Sharapova's story has been one of redemption and reclamation ever since. Out of the game for nearly ten months after shoulder surgery, Sharapova returned with a new service motion that protected her body but messed with her head. Double-faults often came in double-digit bunches, but she miraculously still managed to show a great deal of the old Supernovic spirit even though she was but a shadow of her old celestial self. Her '09 Roland Garros QF run showed that the heart and know-how were still there. Her season-ending title in Tokyo seemed to signal something of a rebirth, as her service troubles seemed mostly conquered, allowing her big match attributes to shine through. The win propelled her back into the Top 20, and that the title came in the same city in which she'd won her maiden tour crown in 2003, too, surely would seem to spookily hint at a potential return one day of the pre-shoulder surgery Sharapova.

It never quite happened. But while the old on-court Supernova didn't fully return, the true, stripped-down-to-her-competitive-essentials Sharapova emerged. She'd been there all along, of course, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Maria the Star, but now was the time for HER to shine. Without an always-reliable serve to depend upon, she was forced to remake and improve the rest of her game, becoming an overall better, more versatile player in the process. Intensive training improved her movement on court, and her longtime pounding "A"-game -- which had always been kick-started by her serve, with the momentum working its way down to the rest of her arsenal -- was added to with better defense and point construction. The "new" Sharapova, after she'd joked about being "a cow on ice" on clay in the past, suddenly became the most consistent and reliable clay courter on the WTA tour since Henin stepped away from the sport for good.

Because of the in-and-out nature of her post-surgery serve, the current Sharapova often has to scrape and claw for victories against players that she might have simply been able to blast off the court in her early career. Needed even more than ever before, Sharapova's desire, heart and competitiveness have come even more to the forefront of her game -- and persona -- in recent seasons. While the strength of her star power is still evident, the Russian is known as much now for the intangibles that her fight brings to the table as she is for all her "bright lights" attributes from her time on the world's stage.

Years ago, I wrote of Sharapova: "When Sharapova wins big titles, she often does it with the utmost of style, managing to tear out an opponent's heart, then smile for the cameras after the match, even as the still-warm blood of her defeated foe's most vital organ continued to drip down her arm." Or something like that. Either way, her fashionable tennis attire has never been stained by the "bloody" nature of her intense on-court battles.

It was a trait that served Sharapova well during her longer-than-originally-anticipated climb back to the top. Finally, in 2012, after a nearly four year-long battle, it all came together when she completed her Career Grand Slam with her first title at Roland Garros, a run after which she briefly regained the #1 ranking that she'd lost around the time she'd continued to play without the knowledge of the full extent of her rotator cuff injury in the summer of '08.

While many considered Sharapova's comeback "complete" after her '12 campaign, she did not. Naturally, though, she'd have to fall again before she could rise once more.

After injuring her hip at Wimbledon in '13, she missed the U.S. Open and the 4th Quarter of the season with shoulder bursitis. Once again, one wondered if the end might be near.

Umm, no. It's not over until Maria says it is.

Always and still a fabulous competitor, Sharapova might just be the one player on tour who never simply "gives away" matches. Even if she provides her opponent with occasional help (usually in the form of double-faults), the player on the other side of the net still has to BEAT her at some point. And, sometimes... well, usually, unless her opponent's name is Serena -- big match-turning points are extremely difficult to wrestle away from Sharapova. At the most recent Roland Garros, players young (Genie Bouchard, Garbine Muguruza), "old" (Sam Stosur) and somewhere in between (Simona Halep in the final) tried to put her away when an opportunity presented itself, but none of them ever could. Sharapova battled her way to her second RG crown, winning four straight three-set matches to end the tournament, ultimately winning what she dubbed the "toughest" grand slam final in which she'd ever played. The win marked her twentieth straight three-set match win on clay.

Staring into the light is rarely as dangerous as it is when that light is named Maria.

So, is this the moment when Sharapova will cease to "need" tennis in her life? Hmmm, far from it, it would seem. She's STILL too competitive to be satisfied, and will continue to look for more, more, more success. The player who solidified the Russian tennis revolution has turned out to be the one who has almost single-handedly sustained it into the 2010's, well past the prime time of most of her generational countrywoman, many of whom have either retired or fallen from slam contention. Since her first RG win, she's added "Olympic flagbearer" and Olympic medalist (a Silver on the All-England Club grass in London) to a career accomplishments list that already includes the roles of spokesperson, model, businesswoman, tennis ambassador, intense competitor, champion, "most famous face in the WTA" and even candy maker (Sugarpova!!).

After being burdened with the pressure of having so much talent as she emerged from the Bollettieri Academy, Sharapova has arguably outpaced some of the more optimistic scenarios that revolved around her future when she was just a kid. Having outgrown her "Supernova" beginnings, in so many ways, she's turned out to be much more than a sudden star that illuminated the sky, then faded to darkness.

While "The Supernova" is part of Sharapova's -- and Backspin's -- past, that's all right. By definition, a supernova is supposed to be a short-term thing, and, I admit, there is some sense of "relief" that the moniker I hung around Sharapova's neck a decade ago turned out to have an abbreviated lifespan, after all. It just feels more realistic, you know?

In so many ways, what's come afterward has been even better because of the struggle that Sharapova has had to endure in order to make it all a reality. The only thing, or person, Sharapova has so far failed to find a way to defeat over the last ten years is, well, Serena Williams. Since being defeated at Wimbledon and in the Tour Championships in 2004, the American has run off fifteen straight wins over Sharapova. When and if the losing streak ever ends, one has to believe that it will almost feel as good as winning that first Wimbledon over Williams did all those years ago.

Ah, but that's another potential future Capsule for another day, isn't it?




["Exquisite in the City" - U.S. Open 2006]

What will the 2006 U.S. Open be most remembered for? Andre Agassi's farewell, Martina Navratilova's one final audacious spit in the eye of time, Roger Federer's continuation of his dominance over a resurgent Andy Roddick... or Maria Sharapova's exquisite night on the town?

If her career holds true to form, bet on the Supernova. For she continues to stay one step ahead of the expectation game.


The reason Sharapova has so far managed to continue to defy the high expectations that her Wimbledon title and marketing plan have generated is because she always manages to jump on top of them early. From the moment she shed her wrap to reveal the little black dress on Day 3, one could sense that something special could be in the making in New York... then she spent two weeks doing nothing to dissuade the possibility, culminating in her caving in the roof on Justine Henin-Hardenne in a 6-4/6-4 win in the final to claim her first U.S. Open title.

Sharapova's final match in Flushing Meadows highlighted her old power strokes and big-point prowess, but also provided tantalizing hints of what could be to come. The Open put the advancement of Sharapova's game on full display. Better movement. Good preparation and a semblance of a gameplan. A willingness to move toward the net and force the action (something that should come in handy at SW19), even if it meant beating a five-time slam champ at her own game. Again, the scenarios abound after something like this.

Swinging defiantly. Grunting with abandon. Clenching a fist in triumph. And, just as importantly, doing it with exquisite style. A supernovic star in full luminosity.

In many ways, Sharapova is a symbol of all that makes New York -- which she says is her favorite city -- New York. She has the style and grace to inspire notions of romance and grandeur, but enough heart and in-your-face confidence in herself and her abilities to never waver from her intended course. Some flash for the paparazzi, but enough substance to satisfy the rest of us.

Talk about a marriage made in sports heaven.

The Supernova has fashioned quite a story over the past two years, but could this maiden U.S. Open title signal the beginning of something even bigger? The "Sharapova Scenario" envisioned a moment like this but, true to form, the 19-year old may have made it happen about a year ahead of schedule.

Was this Open simply a titillating prelude, or has Sharapova's brief 12-18 month run of brilliance already begun? Needless to say, that will be the question du jour in these parts come Melbourne in January.

Her thirteenth career title will surely go down in tennis history as anything but unlucky, but is Sharapova in danger of attaining perfection?

Uh... naaah.

Forget for a moment about all the forehand and service winners that magically rocketed from her racket on Saturday, and remember that after the match Sharapova said that she had wanted to "do the opposite" and reverse her previous four-match losing streaking against Henin-Hardenne by completing a "360-degree flip" of all her previous actions in those matches. Of course, she meant to say "180-degrees," since a 360-flip would have brought her right back to where she started and this Backspin would have been lauding JHH's sixth grand slam title rather than Sharapova's second. Then, after her directional faux pas, Sharapova proceeded to knock the lid off the champion's cup when she held it up in girlish celebration.

(Hmmm, after the thing with the cell phone in '04, it looks like Maria needs to schedule some additional practice time to help her become more adept at working with props, doesn't it?)

Oh, well. Hey, the girl's not perfect. But she has time to work on that.





["2000-09 Decade's Best: Players of the Decade - #3" - 2009]

Maria Sharapova changed the game, at once expanding its fan base as well as broadening the scope of what was possible for a female tennis player. While her fellow Russian Anna Kournikova created the WTA tour role of the internet age "It Girl" who could theoretically lift all boats with an off-court focus that served to make her's a household name, even in non-tennis households, it was Sharapova who put the appropriate athletic spin on the formula and opened doors to respectability that had been long closed to her predecessor.

While Kournikova was talented, and a former doubles #1, she was never built to become a "true champion" in the sport, nor did she have the commitment to do all it took to escape the sportsworld-wide condescension directed her way for having "never won anything." She just didn't have the on-court intestinal fortitude for it, and instead chose the path of least resistance when all was said and done. Heart-fueled champions aren't built, they're born, after all. When Sharapova was first gaining notice as the latest hard-hitting teenager to emerge from the Nick Bollettieri Academy at the start of this decade, there was the more-than-lingering thought that she, too, might turn out to be more hype than heroine.

But Sharapova changed all that in one fell swoop in 2004.

When Sharapova "went supernova" by winning Wimbledon as a 17-year old that year, she created an entirely new template for the sport. One of a tour-endorsed potential cover model/superstar/champion all rolled up in one package (Serena Williams came to fit the bill, as well, but she's usually had to create her own press rather than have the higher-ups do the early groundwork work for her, likely because the people that make these decisions somehow probably thought she presented "too strong" a physical presence... a notion just as ridiculous as the one that prevented Martina Navratilova from starring in a major American television commercial for over twenty years because she was gay). A player who could be the subject of a photoshoot one day, in a business meeting with high-paying sponsors the next, and then go out and win a major title the following weekend. It's a presence worth it's weight in gold for the WTA tour, and the powers-that-be are always trying to hype the next "one," sometimes to both the detriment of the player and, at times, even the tour's own reputation as an ATHLETIC organization. But, with Sharapova, the line never seemed to be crossed into exploitation... and that's because the "Supernova" in her never allowed it to be the case. With her, image wasn't the only thing, it was simply one of many. She stated emphatically at the start that she didn't want to be a "tennis babe," but had her sights set on being a winner. And unlike many who've come before and after her, she recognized the pitfalls and was ready for them all from Day One. It's a trait not to be undersold.

But everything discussed here so far has just been surface niceties. It's Sharapova's actual tennis career that has given all the off-the-court extracurriculars -- from ever-present commercials to glamour shots to media-friendly promotional appearances -- added cultural weight, serving to give her a personal "importance" within-and-outside the sport that allows her standing to arguably rise above players with perhaps a few additional major titles and longer careers to date. And as far as that career goes, it didn't take long to learn everything we needed to know about the seriousness of her desire to be more than a multimedia star.

In 2003, in her first full season on tour, Sharapova finished in the Top 50 and won the first two titles of her career as a 16-year old. By the middle of the following season, she arrived at Wimbledon with her name flagged in the draw as one to watch. She'd just won a small grass event in Birmingham, and the buzz about her was starting to hit the mainstream. Few expected her to explode on to the scene at the All-England Club that summer, though. I was lucky enough to actually pick the #15 seed to reach the final before the tournament began, but I surely didn't think my "wild card" selection might actually SURPASS my surprise prediction. But that's just what she did.

Down 6-2/3-1 in the semifinals against Lindsay Davenport, Sharapova first showed the fire that has since become commonplace in her career. She won to advance to the final to face the two-time defending champ in the form of Serena Williams, who came in having won five of the previous seven slams she played. But while most expected an easy Williams victory, the Russian displayed no fear of the moment. Going at Serena with penetrating groundstrokes that pinned the champ at the baseline, Sharapova beat the flummoxed Williams at her own aggressive game and never allowed her to get a foothold in the match. She won 6-1/6-4, becoming the fourth youngest slam champ in the Open era (behind Tracy Austin, Monica Seles and Martina Hingis). Then, quickly seeking to prove her SW19 arrival was no fluke, she backed up her result by once again defeating Serena in the final of the Season-Ending Championships, coming back from a 0-4 deficit in the 3rd set against an injured-but-desperate Williams who was putting everything she had into nearly every shot in an attempt to drag herself over the finish line with a flourish before she could physically go no further. She almost did it, too. But Sharapova gathered herself, didn't succumb to the pressure of the moment and an injured-but-still-lethal opponent and claimed the final six games of the match.

In August 2005, she became the first Russian woman to grab the #1 ranking, and the fifth-youngest (18 years, 4 months) to do so in WTA history. A year later, she stepped into the spotlight seemingly made for her at the U.S. Open. Sporting what many dubbed her "little black dress" tennis outfit, she was "Exquisite in the City" in a way that only the Supernova could be, ruling the nighttime in round after round as la belle dame sans merci. After defeating world #1 Amelie Mauresmo in the SF (her first victory over the Frenchwoman), she ended a personal four-match losing streak against Justine Henin in the final, winning in straight sets 6-4/6-4.

Sharapova narrowly missed claiming the year-end #1 ranking for '06, coming in second (behind Henin, ahead of two-time slam winner Mauresmo) in a three-way battle for the spot at the SEC that November. Nevertheless, she again rose into the #1 position the following January. Then, one year later, she climbed yet another career mountain.

In Melbourne in '08, Sharapova won her first Australian Open championship in dominating fashion, not dropping a set and handily knocking off Ana Ivanovic in the final. In winning her third different slam of the 2000's, she joined only Serena and Henin in accomplishing the feat during the decade (actually, from the starting point of Sharapova's Wimbledon title in '04, only she and Williams claimed three different slam titles in the five-and-a-half year span from then until the end of '09). Additionally, her 3-1 career mark (a .750 pct.) is behind only Serena (.786) amongst active players with multiple slam finals as the decade comes to a close. With her game looking better than ever, the "Sharapova Scenario" that I once theorized about seemed a potential reality. She began the year on a 27-2 tear, and when Henin made her surprise retirement announcement in the spring it was Sharapova who inherited her #1 ranking. The Russian seemed a natural fit to fill what would later be called the "power vacuum" at the top of the Henin-less game. 2008 might have been the year of Sharapova's dreams.

But her shoulder betrayed her (or, maybe, I should say that the doctors who misdiagnosed her rotator cuff tear for months on end did), and Sharapova's story has been one of an attempted reclamation ever since. Out of the game for nearly ten months after having shoulder surgery, Sharapova returned with a new service motion that protected her body but messed with her head. Double-faults often came in double-digit bunches, but she miraculously still managed to show a great deal of the old Supernovic spirit even though she was but a shadow of her old Supernova self. Her Roland Garros QF run, just one round off her career best ('07 SF), showed that the heart and know-how were still there. Her season-ending title in Tokyo, which extended her tour-leading string of consecutive seasons with a title to seven as the decade's play ended, seemed to signal something of a rebirth, as her service troubles seemed mostly conquered, allowing her big match attributes to shine through. The win propelled her back into the Top 20, and that the title came in the same city in which she'd won her maiden tour crown in 2003, too, surely would seem to spookily hint at a potential return to the pre-shoulder surgery Sharapova in the upcoming season.

Through her partial decade of action, Sharapova maintained a year-end Top 5 ranking for four consecutive seasons from 2004-07, tying her with Mauresmo ('03-'06) for the tour's longest such streak during the 2000's. She's spent seventeen weeks at #1, and her twenty career titles are the most by any Russian woman, as are her three slam singles championships in a decade which has seen the Hordettes maintain the deepest, most impressive field of contenders on tour.

Oddly enough, though, Sharapova has had to battle to maintain a position within the clubby group of her countrywomen, many of whom grew up training together in Russia while Sharapova was in Florida from the age of 9. In recent years, being of Siberian birth, she's been busy trying to make commitments to her family heritage, trying to better "fit in" with her fellow Russians by becoming a member of the Russian Fed Cup team and such (though her shoulder injury prevented her from participating in the '08 Olympics, where the Hordettes swept the Medal stand). Of course, while her split Russian/American upbringing (I noted that she was something of an "AmerRussian" years ago) might have caused some tension within Russian circles at times, it's also her biggest advantage when it's come to all the off-the-court "extras." Through all the WTA and television's efforts to create a "universal" star, Sharapova is the one European-born tennis female who's managed to be a world wide crossover phenom, from Europe to North America to Asia. In the U.S., she's the only foreign WTA player that the television networks treat with coverage usually befitting only an American-born player. When she's on court, she's not "Russian"... she's Maria Sharapova. It should ALWAYS be that way with a top player, but the American television networks that cover tennis have a hard time breaking down and admitting that U.S. tennis fans might actually recognize a player from a different country. The force of Sharapova's presence and personality, though, has made it easy in her case. When it comes to her, there is no "invisible barrier" that has to be overcome. As much as I've rooted for the likes of Justine Henin to succeed in recent seasons, the best thing for the game on American television, when it comes to the attention sometimes grudgingly given the women's game, is to have the Williams sisters and Sharapova involved in as many huge matches as possible. Partially because of the situation of TV's own making, they're really the only women's players that EVERYONE is expected to recognize.

Which brings us back to where we started.

While Kournikova's stardom inspired a whole slew of young girls, especially in Russia, to play tennis, Sharapova can make them aspire to be a star AND a champion... and she can do it in Russia, the U.S., Canada, Britain, Japan, Australia, etc. "Anna's Army" has provided an opportunity for a future full of "Sharapova's Supersoldiers," and that's a legacy that we'll only see play out by the end of the next decade. Thus far, the "Supernova template" has been a difficult one to copy, though. Many have come in the wake of Maria's success, trying to balance a champion's heart with a star's sensibilities. Nicole Vaidisova, thus far, has failed miserably after a promising start. Olga Puchkova was but a dream in her own mind's eye. Ana Ivanovic nearly pulled it off, but the fragility she showed in the spotlight once she stepped into it was a trait that never seemed to exist in Sharapova's make-up.

When some think of Sharapova, the grunts and camera ads with that fabulous dog might initially come to mind. But any player with good genes and a healthy set of lungs can pull off that two-fer. It takes a different brand of athlete to be able to be all things to all people, backing up the multitude of attention with accomplishments that almost make the off-the-court activities seem silly. Being a star is one thing, but simultaneously maintaining the foundation of a champion is another.

So far, Sharapova has played the game as well as anyone ever has.

I dubbed Sharapova the "Supernova" back in '04 because of the brilliance of her introduction. But despite the actual meaning of the world, which also notes the short-lived nature of such a phenomenon, there is no need for THIS Supernova to burn out as quickly as she arrived. The shoulder injury was a worry, but assuming the best there, she's still just 22 and the fifth youngest player in the Top 20, even though 2009 was her sixth straight season with such a ranking. There is a great deal left to accomplish, and much time to do it.

Sharapova's career has already been about re-writing tennis templates, so she's likely to amend her Backspin nickname's celestial origins, as well. If so, the "second coming" should be a sight to behold.




["Watch Out... The Radwanska Might Get You" - Miami 2012]

Thanks to a certain Polish go-getter, Maria Sharapova won't have any problems coming up with a scary story to impart to her future children if she wants to keep them in line.


Some day, when the kids won't listen, and their father is off somewhere, Sharapova might find herself needing to come up with something that will make them be quiet and allow her some time to decompress after a long day of business meetings and marketing presentations revolving around one of her many new product lines.

When the kids, at first, don't listen, Maria will sit them down in the side room in which she sometimes goes to be alone, locking the door behind her. It usually happens when she's reminded of a particularly bad memory from her past. "You know how mama comes in here and closes the door?," she'll ask. When the two blonde tots shake their heads, she'll impart her first bit of wisdom. "Well, I come in here to be alone. I think about how I managed to survive a few truly horrible days, five years apart." As they stare at her and silently blink, she'll lower her voice and utter, "And you should listen to what I have to say. Because, one day, The Radwanska might come to get you, too."

She'll tell them of having gone to New York City when she was just a teenager. Her experience there had been exquisite. Clad in a little black dress, her smile lit up the night sky. One year later, though, she faced off against The Radwanska there. At first glance, It seemed to be just a normal being you might pass on the street. But The Radwanska was very smart. And, back then, while It was still young and not yet as skilled in the art of deception and battle, The Radwanska liked to be demonstrative when It distracted and psyched out Its opponents. "Well," Maria will say, "at least that's the tactics It decided to use against me." She'll tell the kids about how right as she was about to attack The Radwanska, It'd hop around and make like It was going to charge her. It played with her mind, and caused her to make mistakes. Then, once the battle began, The Radwanska didn't really flash any big weapons. "Certainly not as big as mine," Maria will remember. "But it didn't matter. It expertly moved me around our agreed-upon place of battle, and tired me out. I didn't know what to do. I'd try too hard, and make a mistake. The Radwanska would counter my big punches with lighter ones from weird angles, and I'd have a hard time fighting back. It frustrated me, and I become a little unglued, to be honest. Oh, I didn't show it... but I made so many mistakes, it was sort of obvious. Especially to The Radwanska. It just emboldened It."

After leaving that battle battered and bruised, Maria will tell her offspring, she met up with The Radwanska many times over the years that followed. She always bested her adversary, making her wonder what had happened that time in New York that had rattled her so. After a while, she sort of forgot about that one bad fight, thinking that it was only an aberration. "The Radwanska had me right where It wanted me."

Almost five years after that first horrifying encounter, Maria will tell of how she and The Radwanska met again in Miami. It didn't take long for her to realize that some things had changed, while some had remained the same. Scarily so. Having forgotten about the frustrating tactics often employed by The Radwanska against her, Maria will recount how she'd gone into THIS contest without being as leery as she should have been. "I had no answers when The Radwanska started to cast It's spell on me all over again. Even worse, It had changed. It was stronger now. It had a few bigger weapons at Its disposal, and a willingness to use them whenever the mood struck. I could never tell when it was going to happen, though. The Radwanska's face never let on what was going on inside It's head. The craftiness. The mathematical equations and tables studied -- at least I'm guessing -- to determine what tactic to use and when, all timed out and selected to use right when I'd least expect it. Then, when you finally give in and admit defeat, The Radwanska smiles. It sends a shiver down your back. Was it all an illusion. Suddenly, The Radwanska didn't look as imposing as It had a few moments before. How could that be? What just happened? Was it me!? I didn't know what to do!"

The kids cautiously exchange glances as their mother puts a hand over her eyes and tries to contain herself. As usual, it only takes a moment. Probably less than a second. So quick that, unless someone knows her as well as they do, they wouldn't even have noticed the crack that developed behind her eyes before she shielded them from view.

"Well, let's just say that it was a horrifying experience. It was like I was living out the day from five years before all over again, only this time The Radwanska was more self-assured and confident in It's approach. More efficient, too. It didn't need to trick me to beat me. Or psych me out with idle threats. It was just better than me. Pardon my French, but it scared the crap out of me. It really did. Apparently, I hadn't learned anything, wasn't quite as good a fighter as I used to be... AND The Radwanska had become a more lethal opponent Itself. I tell you, if I wasn't who I was I'd probably been REALLY depressed. After all, I'd gotten through such a beating at The Radwanska's hands before, and climbed to the top of the pyramid to become declared the best fighter in the land. Well, at least I was ONE of them. No one ever said that about The Radwanska."

"What happened to The Radwanska, Mommy?," one wide-eyed munchkin will ask.

"I'm not sure, honey," Maria will whisper.

Then, with a hint of fear, one child queries, "Will The Radwanska ever come after me?"

"Oh, I'm sure The Radwanska doesn't have any interest in that," Maria will say, then begin to wonder. "But then I thought It was through coming after me, too. Sure, I'd heard rumblings that the Radwanska had been saying things about me behind my back for a while. I even made a crack about It losing a recent battle one time. Hmmm, maybe that was what got The Radwanska mad, and made It come after me again. Why did I make It mad?"

Maria gets a far off look in her eyes. "I'd faced such a foe before, but SHE didn't scare me like The Radwanska did. The Serena was The Best of Them All. I beat her at her own game. You'd think it would make you feel better about everything else. But it doesn't. Maybe it's because you can always see The Serena coming. You can prepare yourself and, if you lose, you're prepared for the pain. With The Radwanska, it's like It's not there and then -- poof! -- there It is. You don't see It coming until It's already got you. You know, I've stopped looking behind every tree, and around every corner. Maybe I'm doing it again. Maybe The Radwanska is still out there. Waiting for the perfect moment to pounce."

The kids are worried now. "How do we know when the Radwanska is coming, Mama?!"

"You can't. Not really.," Maria will haltingly say. "You probably should sleep with one eye open, a night light on, and a heavy racket right next to the bed. Just in case. The Radwanska COULD come calling in the middle of the night, and you'll be prepared when It shows up." She chuckles to herself. "That's what you tell youself. 'Next time, you'll be prepared.' You won't let The Radwanska scare you. You'll be prepared... you'll be prepared... you'll be prepared..."

After about ten minutes of hearing their mother repeat the line as if some sort of mantra, little Yuri and Yelena grab each other's hands and maneuver their way down the hall and back to bed. They pull the covers up over their heads, and try to block out the sound of their mother's voice as it drones on into the dead of night.

"You'll be prepared... you'll be prepared..."

Anyway, I just figure that Sharapova, one day, will have all sorts of stories to tell about encounters such as the one she had on Saturday afternoon. Oh, such a story might scare the kids, you say? They'll never get to sleep after hearing a tale such as that, you surmise. Well, yeah. Maybe. But that's something that Maria will have to deal with later, like it or not. You know, just like how she'll have to one day deal with the fact that the spells cooked up by The Radwanska, after all these years, still have the ability to perplex and befuddle her, leaving her without any more answers now than she had in NYC back in 2007.

Scary, indeed.




["A Star is Reborn" - 2012 Roland Garros]

Maria Sharapova has traveled a long road to get back to "super." But, as is often said, it's the journey that makes the destination.


The now-25 year old Sharapova first burst onto big-time scene eight years ago, not in London when she won her first career slam title, but in Paris, when the then-17 year old reached her first major quarterfinal at Roland Garros a month earlier. Back then, the slower red clay never seemed to fit the Russian who was always looking to go somewhere and get there as fast as she could. With a game based around a big serve and powerful groundstrokes, the six-foot-two, usually gracefully-attired Sharapova wasn't as graceful a mover on the terre battue. She even likened her ungainly attempts to a "cow on ice."

So much has changed since then. In 2004, Anastasia Myskina was the new Roland Garros champion. Victoria Azarenka and Petra Kvitova were 14. Sloane Stephens was 11, and Twitter didn't even exist. Serena Williams was around... well, maybe that's not a good example. But a certain Pole who would soon be renowned for needling Sharapova's nerves WAS, too, and the junior was about to finish the WTA year ranked #941, while the Russian was about to go on a run that would conclude with her finishing '04 ranked #4 in the world and, not long afterward, #1.

In the three and a half years after her initial slam breakthrough in Paris, Sharapova won titles at the other three majors, going full-blown "Supernovic" in London, playing exquisitely in New York City in '06 then, in early 2008, sweeping through the Australian Open field. She seemed ready to become the dominant force on the WTA tour. Later that spring, the top player in the world, Justine Henin, announced her first retirement from the sport, and Sharapova inherited her #1 ranking. But her ownership of it it wasn't meant to be a longtime thing. Having injured her shoulder earlier in the season, only to have the injury misdiagnosed and made worse with continued play, Sharapova was forced to have rotator cuff surgery. She missed the Olympics, two slams, and nine months of action as she saw her ranking fall outside the Top 100 and her entire tennis career flash before her eyes. When she returned, she wasn't quite the same. The serve that she'd relied on, and upon which her entire game seemed to gain strength (and weakness) in the past, was no longer a "given" weapon. Upwards of nearly twenty double-faults in a match weren't uncommon, as she tinkered with her service mechanics and saw her confidence dip in and out for nearly two years.

But that started to change last spring and summer. Sharapova's service woes began to even out, and she worked hard to improve her fitness and court movement. After having the most successful clay season of her career, her confidence was high. After winning Rome, she said, "This is just the start of everything." The Russian seemed on track to potentially win at Roland Garros, only to fall in the semifinals. Next came a run to the Wimbledon final, her best post-surgery slam result. She lost to Petra Kvitova, then did the same in the Australian Open final to Victoria Azarenka earlier this season. But, again, it was the clay season where she found her true footing, no pun intended. Committing to playing a full red clay season for the first time, she won two titles, including a defense of her Rome crown. In Paris, as other top seeds fell by the wayside, it was Sharapova, on what used to be considered her worst surface -- by both her and others -- who remained, finally reaching the first RG final of her career.

But after going 0-2 in the past year in slam championship matches against first-time finalists, Sharapova once again found herself up against another first-timer in Italy's Sara Errani.

The 25-year old, #21-seed came into Saturday as a decided underdog against a player a full ten inches taller than her and with a second serve mostly bigger than HER first. But Errani knows she's not a power player. She probably learned that fairly quickly during her stint at Nick Bollettieri's Florida-based academy when she was a kid. The academy has played host to a number of eventual grand slam champions, and most of them sport the type of power game -- either on the serve or off the ground or, as in Sharapova's case, both -- that is hardly the diminutive-but-feisty Errani's stock and trade. Errani says she even remembers hitting with a fellow 12-year old at the Academy -- a certain Siberian-born Russian who had the carriage of a champion (according to no less than Martina Navratilova, who saw her hit at the time) as a six-year old.

But, keeping to her personality, the Italian has never given up trying to find a way to "play beyond her means." She eventually left Florida to train in Europe and, after last season, stuck in the #40's in the rankings, decided to buy out her racket contract to enable her to switch to a slightly longer racket that would give her a bit more power on her extremely weak serve. The change has seemed to work wonders. With three clay court titles under her belt this season, Errani came to Paris with a career 0-28 record against Top 10 players, but near the end of nearly two weeks of play at Roland Garros she'd gone 2-0 in such matches, AND knocked off a pair of former RG singles champions (as well as an ex-runner up and defending U.S. Open champ), too. So, eight years after that impromptu academy hitting partner had played in and won HER first grand slam final, Errani had managed to climb into the first of HER career.

As the day began, Errani had already won one title in Paris, taking the doubles crown yesterday after having finished as a runner-up along with partner Roberta Vinci at the Australian Open in January. Errani reached the AO singles quarterfinals in Melbourne, as well, giving her more actual match wins than any other player on (either) tour at this year's slams. But lifting the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen was a whole other kettle of fish. Before the match, Errani answered the question of whether or not she believed she could defeat Sharapova and win Roland Garrros. "It's not a question of believing or not believing. I don't think about that. I just think about playing. I just think about going on court and giving my all. And whatever happens, happens."

The match began with somewhat windy conditions. Just a few days ago, the wind -- along with heavier conditions -- had played such havoc with Sharapova's serve in the 4th Round that she nearly lost to Czech veteran Klara Zakopalova. Right on cue, by the third point of the match, she already had her first double-fault. But, moments later, she got to an Errani short ball, then held with an ace for 1-0. Sharapova took control of the match's initial rallies against the Italian, not used to the pace of the Russian's shots and unable to move into court to take balls early as she had against Sam Stosur in the semifinals, thwarting her opponent's easy power and trying to make her play the into her hands. In Game #3, Sharapova again fired an ace to hold for 3-0.

Errani, as promised, tried as she might, but found it difficult to string points together. When she was able to find moments to employ a gameplan of keeping Sharapova off balance with spins, drops and crosscourt rallies that kept her from aggressively moving inside the baseline to hit winners, she managed to get good results. But finding the time of her own to get on top of Sharapova's far-harder shots proved difficult for on a point-by-point basis. In the fourth game, Errani won a long first-point rally, keeping her shots deep in the court and ultimately forcing an error from the Russian. But, one point later, Sharapova killed one of Errani's slow-moving serves. The Italian saved two break points by utilizing her slice backhand and keeping Sharapova at bay, but then Sharapova smashed back another less-than-unwieldy, 68-mph serve and broke again with a forehand winner to take a 4-0 lead.

The Russian, surrounding Errani's first winner of the match, opened the match's door a crack by double-faulting to start and end Game #5, leading to the first break of her serve. As the set wore on, Errani found more opportunities to move into the court, getting on top of her opponent's power and making her hit more shots in the sort of longer rallies that played more to the scrambling Italian's skills. She held for 4-2 and 5-3, but couldn't coax Sharapova into playing into her hands -- or commits multiple erros in a single game -- for long. Errani got to 30/30 on Sharapova's serve by winning an 18-shot rally, but then the Russian slowed down and took a little bit of the risk out of her serve, then followed it up with strong groundstrokes that ended points quickly. She held with a backhand up the line and took the 1st set 6-3.

In the 2nd, Errani appeared to finally be more used to the pace of Sharapova's shots, but the Russian grabbed an early advantage with a break in Game #1 and never let it go. In Game #5, Sharapova flashed a little of the skill that has made her a better claycourter than in years past. With a break point on Errani's serve, the Italian pulled off a volley that landed short on the other side of the net, angling into the doubles alley. It seemed like a sure winner, but Sharapova broke into a full sprint from the baseline, reaching the ball in time to send it back, with purpose, at a surprised Errani. Errani barely got her racket strings on the ball, which bounced harmlessly away and gave Sharapova the break. Errani reacted just as her tennis-playing brethren from Italian usually do on the tennis court under such circumstances -- with an expression of exasperation evident on her face, as well as through her hands, body and voice.

The point highlighted precisely how Sharapova, while waiting for her serve to come back to her, has worked to make herself capable to winning without her formerly-overpowering #1 weapon. Working to run her around the court, especially by bringing her uncomfortably forward and trying to exploit her mediocre-at-best-on-clay movement, used to be a full-proof plan. But even when Errani sometimes was able to work such a point in this final, it wasn't the foregone conclusion that it once was that she was going to win it. Now, even with her serve more reliable, Sharapova has enough skills to win without it being dominant. In many ways, she's now a better player than she was during her "Supernova" days.

With the match's finish line within sight, it was up to Sharapova to close things out and complete her four-year journey. An Errani blocked backhand service return winner helped her get a break for 4-2, but the Russian outgunned her one game later, going up 40/love on the Italian's serve and hitting a backhand up the line to break for 5-2. Tasked with serving out her "Career Grand Slam"-clinching title, Sharapova wasn't finished having to work. But, by this time, after four years, she was used to it. Sharapova's hit a running, lunging forehand winner from the baseline to get to match point, but saw the Italian, never giving up until the last ball was struck, fight back with a pair of what Sharapova later admiringly called the "sickest" backhands she's ever seen over the next five points, one of which gave Errani a break point and the other on Sharapova's second match point.

After Sharapova gained her third match point with a forehand winner, Errani attempted a third drop shot from the baseline. This time, though, she came up short. After having not been able to reach the previous two drops in the game, Sharapova had been hot on the trail of this one. But when she saw the ball fail to clear the net, she knew that she'd finally traveled beyond her career threatening 2008 surgery and all the doubts -- admitted to or not -- that she had about whether or not she'd ever become a champion again. She slid into the red clay onto her knees, bent over with her face in her hands and cried tears of joy for a job -- and journey -- well done. Sitting up, she opened her arms wide to the sky. It was finally time for Sharapova to be allowed to take it ALL in.


Sharapova's 6-3/6-2 win completed her "Career Grand Slam," a nice accompaniment to her return to the #1 ranking after a four year absence on Monday. Maybe even just as impressively, the Russian ends the 2012 red clay season with a spotless 16-0 record.

Jumping around and twirling in air like a big 25-year old kid immediately after her victory, Sharapova in some ways almost inadvertently recalled the image of Frenchwoman Suzanne Lenglen, for whom the second show court at Roland Garros and women's championship trophy is named. A six-time RG champion in the 1920's, Lenglen was known for her showy, flashy on-court moves and fashion sense... and lives on in a series of in-match photos and video clips that make her seen like a ballerina posing for the camera, trying to look as graceful in the air as humanly possible. At the very least, a case can be made that Sharapova might be the most glamorous woman to hoist the RG woman's trophy since the current coupe's namesake did it back in 1926.

Meanwhile, while the Italian's efforts in her first grand slam final didn't produce her hoped-for result, as it had for her in-attendance-for-the-final friend and countrywoman Francesca Schiavone (the '10 champ), Errani, who'd never won a match over a Top 10 player in her career as of two weeks ago, will NOW BE ONE HERSELF on Monday. Although she readily admits that it'll be hard for her to believe and get used to her new standing, not to mention just as difficult to live up to, the little Italian has surely won over the admiration of a whole new group of fans in 2012. From Melbourne to the EuroClay courts and Roland Garros, she's now earned a reputation as a dogged competitor who, even when outgunned, will always try... and then try some more. You'd expect nothing less from a player who says that the player she admires isn't the likes of slam-winning Rafa Nadal, but another, more diminutive-and-dogged Spaniard named David Ferrer, who strives to and often does get the most -- and maybe more -- out of his abilities than any other more "built for greatness" player in professional tennis.


Prior to the post-match trophy ceremony, there was Sharapova climbing into the stands, kissing babies and even lifting one to the skies like a scene from "The Lion King," adding a few more tags -- politician? Queen of the Serengeti? -- to a career job resume that includes stints as a businesswoman, model, spokesperson, (currently) fiancee, (soon-to-be) candymaker and one of the all-around best competitors in the sport. Unlike many of her fellow champions, though, who found the world to be their oyster after finding grand slam success, Sharapova has never lost track, first and foremost, what it was that got her there -- her tennis -- or lost her desire to be the best that she could be at it. It says something about her that it was Sharapova who has become the first player to win a slam following shoulder surgery, for it speaks well to the drive that has always lurked beneath her glossy, fashionable exterior. In effect, it's always been her secret weapon. Finally, after a long, painful and, ultimately, affirming four years, it is once again. Many players who'd climbed as high as she once did would have given up and accepted the "dying out" nature of the supernova-like brilliance she once experienced. But not Sharapova. She dug in and worked harder than ever, and today she receives the spoils of her efforts. Nearly a half-hour after the conclusion of match, Sharapova was still levitating around the court on her own personal Cloud Nine. Calling her victory the "most special" of her career, she said she'd, "never felt this happy."

The WTA has now crowned six different champions at the last six slams, and eight at the last nine. But with Sharapova back in the grand slam winner's circle and atop the rankings, it might be difficult to prevent the Russian from adding to her career numbers at least one more time over the next handful of majors. After what she's managed to do after dealing with such adversity, who's to say what she can accomplish from a position of power. Super.

Eat your heart out, Radwanska. Better luck next time.





["2010-19 Decade's Best: Players of the Decade - #7" - 2019]

Sharapova came of age on the sport's biggest stages in the 2000's, winning Wimbledon at 17 in '04, reaching #1 in '05 and winning additional slam crowns in '06 and '08. She ended the decade with a misdiagnosed shoulder injury leading to a career-threatening condition that required surgery in October '09. In the 2010's, she re-arranged her game style and staged a spectacular on-court comeback while also becoming the founder of a successful candymaking business (Sugarpova) off it, only to see a controversial drug suspension and difficulties staying healthy upon her return come to define the remainder of her decade.

While Sharapova would be hampered by issues with her shoulder (often due to the restructured service motion designed to work around her previous injury) throughout the decade, the situation ultimately proved to be something of a "blessing in disguise," as her inability to continue to play her serve-dominant game or consistently maintain a high service percentage, she was forced to become a more versatile player. After improving her on-court movement and defense, including learning to slide on the clay, the Russian became a *better* player as a result. In a remarkable turn of events, after having earlier in her career described herself as a "cow on ice" when it came to playing on the surface, Sharapova became the tour's *best* clay court player of the first half of the decade. From 2012 forward, she was 80-14 on the surface, at one points winning 22 straight three-setters, and claimed Roland Garros titles in 2012 and '14 (her fourth and firth career slam crowns). Her '12 win completed her Career Slam, making her the sixth woman in tennis history to accomplish the feat, and propelled her back into the #1 ranking (for a month) for the first time since '08. She was the first player ever to win a major title after undergoing shoulder surgery. Later that summer, she won Silver at the London Olympics, falling in the final vs. Serena Williams to extend her long losing streak against her since defeating Williams twice during the '04 season (Wimbledon and Tour Chsp. finals), a streak which stands at nineteen matches as the decade ends (including 18 con. sets, and 31 of 32 dating back to '08). Even while still dealing with occasional shoulder issues, Sharapova had four straight Top 4 finishes from 2011-15 and extended her streak of seasons with at least one title to thirteen (2003-15), fourth-longest in WTA history behind Navratilova, Evert and Graf.

After losing the 2016 AO quarterfinals (to Williams), Sharapova tested positive for meldonium, a medication she'd been taking on the recommendation of her doctor since she was a teenager and had not been on the banned list of substances until January '16. She was suspended for two years, and ultimately served a 15-month sentence away from the sport after an arbitration ruling essentially found her to be guilty of mostly an accounting oversight (the new banned substances information had been listed in the fine print of an email sent out during the offseason), ruled to be sincere in being unaware of the new status of the drug and declared to have been at "no significant fault" when it came to any attempt to conceal her use of the drug. Meldonium has since been deemed by those with knowledge of the drug to have no "performance-enhancing" properties, and had been added to the banned list by WADA with zero scientific evidence to the contrary and only a "suspicion" about its effects because many Eastern European athletes were found to have it in their systems. At the time of the suspension (and ever after the ruling in her favor), many WTA players -- many while also revealingly citing long-harbored animosity toward the Russian because of a perceived lack of "friendliness" -- chose the moment to take the low road and attack Sharapova's character. Even now, despite the knowledge of the original misinformation spread about meldonium, as well as the since-revealed often crooked and slipshod practices of WADA itself, some refuse to reconsider their original, firmly stated criticisms directed at Sharapova formed when the ban first became public knowledge. Meanwhile, the dubious predictions of a negative (or mixed) reception from on-site fans at tournaments upon her return proved to be totally unfounded.

Sharapova missed six consecutive slams during her absence, returning to action in April '17. She won a title in that fall and finished the year at #60, then climbed back into the Top 25 in early '18, reaching the QF at Roland Garros that spring. But the Russian has been consistently hampered by injuries since her return (often concerning her foream, as well as continued problems with her shoulder, the latter of which ended her '18 season early as she finished at #29). The issues continued into 2019, when she played just fifteen matches (going 8-7), falling to a season-ending standing of #136, her worst since 2002. She's yet to reach a second slam QF since her return.

Even while the back half of the 2010's produced little of note for Sharapova, her first half was filled with significant results. She reached six slam finals, winning the two RG titles (making her 5-5 in major finals in her career), and won seven high-level Premier crowns (3 Rome, and one each at Indian Wells, Cincinnati, Madrid and Beijing). She won 16 WTA titles in the decade (in 31 finals, giving her a 36-23 career mark), recorded three of her seven #1 wins and 53 of her 98 victories over Top 10 players. She posted 41 during her dominant 2012-14 stretch, but just five since her '17 return to the tour.

Off the court, Sharapova has always found success since she became an endorsement magnet after winning Wimbledon as a teenager. This decade alone she founded her successful candy company, wrote a bestselling autobiography, was the first torch bearer during the opening ceremonies of the Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia, and launched a program to mentor women entrepreneurs. When asked how long she intended to remain an active player, in the light of her lack of success in recent years, Sharapova continues to state that she's not yet ready to end her tennis career. One suspects she's hoping for a run of good health that will end in a final surge that results in a career-closing, climatic title run. Whether she'll get her "happy" ending is something only the Tennis Gods know for sure... and they ain't revealin' nuthin'.





All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 3:00 AM 

4 Comments:

Blogger Diane said...

The photo of the Nike billboard near Penn Station made me smile--and it made me feel sad. (At least one snarky butthole on Twitter has already made it about Serena.) We've become so accustomed to fake celebrities (the name "Kardashian" comes to mind) that we forget that some celebrities came to their fame by actually doing something notable. Pova is billboard material.

Thu Feb 27, 03:36:00 PM EST  
Blogger colt13 said...

Sabalenka trying to keep the spirit of Sharapova alive by grunting/howling in today's match vs Zheng.

The Radwanska! That Miami win over Sharapova was 1 of 2 out of 15 attempts.

Isaiah Thomas was once nicknamed "The Smiling Assassin" due to his boyish face, but tenacious game. Sharapova felt similar to me, with the never say die attitude, then doing the figure skating type wave to all 4 sides of the court seconds after.

Thu Feb 27, 04:31:00 PM EST  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

D-
"At least one..." is likely a vast understatement.

C-
Hingis had that "Smiling Assassin" label early in *her* career, too, I think.


Meanwhile, like a mythological heroic figure emerging from the fog, Kuznetsova is still alive in Doha... ;)

Thu Feb 27, 10:56:00 PM EST  
Blogger Rajendra Parihar said...

2000-09 Decade's best players:
1.Serena 2.Venus 3. Henin 4. Sharapova

Fri Feb 28, 05:34:00 AM EST  

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