Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams: The two faces of success

There are great players of the game who win major events and compete at the highest level, and there are legends who are never forgotten. Serena Williams is a living legend, Maria Sharapova lives on the fringes of greatness. Serena’s success suggests a longevity of desire and a matching dedication whereas Sharapova’s achievements suggest enormous talent, a lot of which has remained unfulfilled.

If a statistic is to be counted upon, then Maria Sharapova entered the court at the French Open final as a defending champion for the first time. However, everyone knew that Serena Williams was the favorite by a mile. The final was well contested but yet again her nemesis prevailed, leaving her with the lesser reward. And to imagine that the Russian had stormed on to the scene by defeating the two-time defending champion, Serena Williams, in a Wimbledon final almost ten years ago. Maria Sharapova has been a huge underachiever.

Since her win against Serena in 2004, Sharapova has lost to Serena 13 times. The future does not augur well for her Grand Slam hopes as Serena does not seem content with 16 Grand Slam titles; she is thirsty for more. People are talking about how many she can get, 20 or 25; her serve speeds are being compared to those of her male counterparts, hinting at a lack of competition for her in the women’s category. Serena’s domination of the final and her demolition of S. Errani seem to consolidate this observation. Serena’s career has been punctuated by phases of complete domination. During a period between 2002-03, she held all Grand Slam titles, and seems to be preparing for another such phase in her career.

Serena’s qualitatively different from all her competitors in her constant desire for improvement and constant desire to push the limits of her body. She said after emerging victorious in the final, “I always said that I felt like I have never played my best tennis. I have said that for years, that I feel like I can always do better and play better. The day I feel that I cannot improve, it’s going to be a problem for me. I’m going to have to debate whether I should keep playing. But I feel like as of know I can do a lot of things better.” She has now set her eyes on Roger Federer‘s record of 17 Grand Slam titles and moving onto to her favorite grass court at Wimbledon, things look brighter than ever for the American.

Sharapova, on the other hand, has been unable to shrug off certain demons. The double-faults are very frustrating, something that a top player should be able to get rid of with practice. It seems to be a matter of holding nerve rather than skill and if that is the case, she loses her nerves quite often on the court. She is one of the most unpredictable players and that contradicts a naturally gifted player with an agile body and strength, with a strong forehand as her USP. One can’t help but feel that she could do much better with herself.

Maria Sharapova’s inconsistent brilliance was on show at this year’s French Open. Sharapova failed to win a game in the first set against her quarter-final opponent Jelena Jankovic, but came back with a vengeance to win the match 0-6, 6-4, 6-3. She made a similar comeback in her semi-final game against V. Azarenka, showing better nerves. Unforced errors remain a major drawback of her game as she seems to lose her concentration in brief phases of the game and has to pull herself together. Sharapova must acknowledge that lack in her game and work for improvement, and then perhaps close the gap on Serena.

Wimbledon will again be a test of character for Sharapova. It’s a place where Serena will be all the more confident – the clay court after all is not her territory – but Sharapova’s strengths will also be bolstered. It is hoping against hope that she will break the chain of losses, but the game has seen many more surprising upsets. One is reminded of the often quoted remark of Vitas Gerulaitis after he finally defeated Jimmy Connors to bring to close a series of defeats. He said, “Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row.” Maria Sharapova must go to Wimbledon with the same amount of pride, humour and hope.