Can Sharapova register her first win over Venus at a Slam in tricky 3rd Rd tie?

“Massacre of the innocents” is quite a regular sight in women’s tennis. The physically weaker opponents are mercilessly pulverized, more often than not. Ever since the muscular human dynamos started infiltrating tennis, the face of the game has totally changed. It is now the era which dwells on Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” theory. You might have good technique, but if you’re not strongly built to nail those thunderous ground strokes past your opponents, don’t be surprised if you get knocked out early in any WTA tournament.

Both Olga Puchkova and Miaski Doi, who played their first and second round match respectively against World No.2 Maria Sharapova, probably fall into that category. It took well under an hour for the 2008 Australian Open champion to demolish both of them. The whole world is aware of Masha’s physical strength and monstrous shot making. But the way she has outperformed both her opponents was mind-blowing.

Bagels in women’s singles are not uncommon. We have seen them quite a number of times in fact. Doing a straight sets bagel, and that too in consecutive matches, is not something which you see on a regular basis though. That’s precisely what was done by Maria at the start of the Australian Open this year. The bench mark for the back-to-back double bagels was set in 1985, and it took 28 years for that record to be emulated, thanks to the Russian power house. Now it is time for her to set her own benchmark, going into the third round.

Sadly though, standing between her and a new bagel record is none other than seven time Grand Slam champion, Venus Williams. Now that she is going to face a much stronger opponent, it would only be foolish to set out looking for a new record, which I am sure will not be on her mind. At this juncture, all she would hope for is to steal a victory somehow, no matter how many games that takes. If she gets through this test, she might jolly well, heave a huge sigh of relief.

Sharapova might have a slight edge over her opponent in terms of head to head between the two, but she knows full well that she has never beaten the latter in a Grand Slam event. Out of the two times that they have met at a major (incidentally both in Wimbledon), the Russian No.1 has not been able to register a win. This is her best chance to change that. Frequently plagued by injuries and unstable health, Venus is hardly threatening nowadays. In fact, the last time we saw her playing her best tennis was during the year 2010, when she got to that No.2 ranking; now owned by Sharapova.

Venus’ performance in majors, of late, especially last year has been pretty ordinary, to say the least. She lost in the early stages of both the French Open and US Open. And at Wimbledon – where she is a 5-time champion – she was eliminated in the first round itself. Whereas Maria, who had to lose her No.1 ranking to the ever consistent Victoria Azarenka, fared fairly well last year, and also completed her career Grand Slam by winning her maiden French open.

With her recent performances and current form, it appears as though that the 32-year-old American hardly stands a chance to force her way to the fourth round of this year’s first Grand Slam. But nothing can be ruled out as yet. Sharapova can never take any of the Williams sisters for granted. The current World No.26 has always been extremely powerful with her serve and can fetch some free points with it. And forget about her current form – it has to be agreed – her overall game is much more penetrative and incisive than that of the “tennis super nova.” All she has lost is her attacking instinct, but apart from that, she has other things in her repertoire.

Venus’ backhand is still one of the best in the game, even slightly better than the current World No.2. If she can use it properly for setting up the points at the net by placing the balls deep down the baseline, then who knows, she can put a lot of pressure on her Russian adversary. The way I see it, she would be looking to cut down on her errors, and also would be keen in minimizing her double faults. Those are the pair of maladies which seem to have crept into her game recently due to fatigue and distress. Playing against a powerful opponent like Sharapova, exorcising those inner demons may not be possible, but this is precisely what she must if she wants to stand any chance of prevailing over her.

Also, the amount of time that Masha consumes between the serves and points is going to test Venus’ patience, standing for long in the court with the sort of health condition which she would be in. When the weariness sets in, she will not be able to compete, as the time goes by. She has to serve well and try to get a break as quickly as possible in the first set, and wrap it up around the 6-3 or 6-4 scoreline.

Among the two, if anyone can come back to win the match from a set down, then it has to be the Russian beauty. Venus will not be able to come back from the brink of defeat. She lost that ability long back. The bagel may not happen, but at the same time, I don’t foresee any upset too (if you would like to rate it as an upset in case Sharapova does lose).

Prediction: Sharapova to win in straight sets.