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The one-woman fiscal stimulus package of the WTA is in decline. Should we be worried? Maria Sharapova’s loss to Maria Kirilenko in the first round of the Australian Open today is the latest in a string of early exits at the Slams for the glamorous Tennis Barbie. I must admit, the stunning upset did cause me a wee bit of embarrassment at having picked Sharapova to win the whole thing, but on closer analysis of the result, it seems to me that this shouldn’t have come as such a shock after all. The 3-time Grand Slam champion has barely looked like a top-20 player, let alone the intimidating and irresistible champion that she once was, since making her comeback from her long injury-related hiatus. I know it’s all very easy to say this in hindsight, but the confidence that some tennis analysts and experts (and some other people who thought that she was just ‘due to win a biggie’, including yours truly) had in Sharapova’s ability to steamroll through the draw were based more on her historical accomplishments than any recent upswing in her form. What age is too young for burnout?
Sometimes it’s easy to forget that Sharapova is still all of 22 years old. To give you some perspective about that fact, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, who are both considered the ‘young’ stars of the ATP, are the same age as the blonde Russian. It’s a mark of Sharapova’s remarkable achievements so early in her career that she is considered among the tour veterans, but it is also perhaps indicative of the possibility that the woman may have already reached, and passed, her peak. There are no two ways about it – Sharapova was fully fit and her shoulder completely healed in today’s match against Kirilenko. Her old service motion is back, so too is her serving power, but gone (perhaps forever?) is the fearsome consistency and effectiveness that she once had with her delivery. It almost seems laughable now that she was once considered the best server in the women’s game alongside Serena Williams.
The unforced errors continue to flow merrily and uncontrollably off Sharapova’s racquet, and that, more than anything else, was the chief reason why she lost to a player that she shouldn’t conceivably have lost to. It was also the reason why she lost to Melanie Oudin in the 3rd round of the US Open last year. And to Gisela Dulko in Wimbledon 2009 Round 2, Dominika Cibulkova in the French 2009 quarters, Alla Kudryavtseva in Wimbledon 2008 Round 2 and Agnieska Radwanska in US Open 2007 Round 3. Boy, that’s a long list of losses to run-of-the-mill players in the early rounds of Slams. In fact, come to think about it, Sharapova has failed to make a deep run at a Major (save for that spectacular and unstoppable run at the 2008 Australian Open) since losing, nay, being annihilated, by Venus Williams in the fourth round of Wimbledon 3 years ago. Is it that the lower-profile players play out of their skins to defeat a player who, let’s face it, doesn’t have quite as many on-court accomplishments on her resume as would warrant the kind of media frenzy and attention that Sharapova unfailingly receives? I know Kudryavtseva, certainly, played the match of her life to bounce out Sharapova at the 2008 Wimbldeon. As did Gisela Dulko at last year’s Championships. Or is it that Sharapova simply can’t take her mind off her designer outfits that she so lovingly and elaborately assembles and find the motivation to tackle a player that she perhaps she thinks she can crush even while sleepwalking through her match?
Clearly, there are more questions than answers right now for Sharapova. Two things stand out for me in her post-injury struggles: she’s been doing reasonably well in the smaller tournaments, winning a Premier title at Tokyo, and she’s performed marginally better against top-10 players than against lower-ranked players, routinely having gotten past the likes of Viktoria Azarenka, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Jelena Jankovic last year. That tells me that her competitive fire is still intact; it’s her nerves (note the outrageously large number of double faults that she’s been making, even after getting back her old service motion) and her lack of consistency with her shots that is causing her problems.
Sharapova’s game has always been hit-or-miss, with perhaps an unhealthily heavy reliance on power and line-painting, which will always make her susceptible to an upset here and a shock defeat there. The trouble for her is that those upsets are happening all too frequently these days, and unless she does something to stem the rot, her future as a Slam contender is questionable. Some may point out that we are making too big a deal out of Sharapova’s travails and that, as always, she doesn’t deserve the amount of attention being heaped on her. But I beg to disagree. Anyone who saw her play in the summer of Melbourne 2008 would know that when at her sizzling best, Sharapova is very close to being invincible, and really, given the state of the women’s game lately, the WTA needs a player like that to be in the thick of things. The one reason why I’m not writing off Sharapova’s chances at the future Slams just yet is that she very rarely defeats herself – she’ll sweat and scramble and grunt all the way to the finish line even when her shots are misfiring spectacularly. She’s always willing to face the bitter end and brush off every new disappointment with composure and hope for the proverbial ‘next time’. Her press conference after her loss today was particularly revealing in that respect, with her assertion that “she’ll be back on a Saturday of the second week in the future” instantly having become the best quote of the day. Do these mannerisms remind us of someone? Thankfully, Sharapova’s once-potent serve is not the only thing she has in common with that most indefatigable of champions, Serena Williams.
The way I see it, Sharapova is too good a player to let this decline in her play become terminal. But she’ll need to dig deep into her mental reserves to find that spark that can get her over the hump. Maybe getting a new coach would help? Or taking a Clijsters/Henin-inspired sabbatical to help her recharge and regroup? No wait, scratch that. I’m one of the few people to unflinchingly stand by the WTA through all of their recent crises, but yet another ‘retirement’ and subsequent ‘comeback’ to universal acclaim and fawning might just be the last straw even for me.
Speaking of Serena Williams, in my previous post, I had mentioned the statistical oddity about her never having won the Australian Open in an even year. Here’s another little piece of trivia for you – Sharapova has won a different Grand Slam every other year starting from the year 2004 (Wimbledon 2004, US Open 2006 and Australian Open 2008). Following that pattern, she should come up trumps at the 2010 French Open. Any takers for that bet? I know Sharapova winning a Slam in the midst of her current career slump on her least favourite surface (or winning any Slam, ever, really) doesn’t sound too likely right now, but you know what, I never discount gumption. Which is why I won’t completely write off her chances. Not just yet.
