Maria Sharapova set to shake up US Open
The withdrawal of world No. 1 Serena Williams from this year’s US Open has left the race for the title wide open, and in her current form Maria Sharapova must be one of the front-runners to win the year’s final Grand Slam.
A proven performer at the majors, Sharapova had, until recently, struggled to recapture the form that took her to the top of the world rankings and to three Grand Slam titles before she underwent surgery to repair a shoulder injury late in 2008.
The 23-year-old returned to the WTA Tour in March 2009, having forfeited the chance to defend her Australian Open title, but rekindling the form that helped her reach the giddying heights of Grand Slam success has been a slow process for Sharapova.
The two titles, in Memphis and Strasbourg, the blonde Russian claimed in the first half of 2010 said more about the calibre of Sharapova’s opposition than her own game. The highest-ranked player she faced at either tournament was then world No. 49 Anabel Medina Garrigues in the Strasbourg semis.
Perhaps the titles were confidence boosting, but with Sharapova yet – until the American hard courts this summer – to defeat a player ranked inside the top 40, as an observer it was hard to get excited about those wins.
It’s counter-intuitive to say it, but it was a loss that hinted the Sharapova of old was on the edge of emerging from an 18-month hibernation. Sharapova held three set points in the first set of her fourth-round match against Williams at Wimbledon before falling 7-6 (9), 6-4, providing the eventual champion with the toughest challenge that she had yet, and would, face all tournament.
“I was right there,” Sharapova said after that match. “I felt really good. You know, I gave her a run for her money. I'm feeling really good. I'm in a much better spot than I was last year. I'm playing a lot better, feeling really great physically... it's a step forward, a step in the right direction.”
And so it has proved, with the world No. 16 finally recording her first top-10 win of the year (against Elena Dementieva) on her way to the final in Stanford, where Victoria Azarenka stopped her in her tracks.
Then came Cincinnati, and another strong run to the final where under threatening skies Sharapova held three championship points against US Open champion Kim Clijsters before rain stopped play. When the pair of former world No. 1s finally stepped back on court, it was Clijsters who took control of the match as she went on to claim the 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 victory.
For Sharapova, it was the one that got away, but also the one that proves just how close she is to once again claiming those big wins – and for this born competitor, there’s no doubt the fire still burns to do so.
You simply don’t fight back from the severity of the injuries Sharapova has endured just to settle for second best.
While the foot injury sustained in her loss to Clijsters has interrupted Sharapova’s final preparations, forcing her to withdraw from playing in Montreal last week, the 2006 US Open champion announced on her website over the weekend that: “I am training hard back home in Florida and the weather is brutal!! I am looking forward to getting to NY next week.”
With her fitness worries seemingly behind her, current form that perhaps only trails Clijsters and world No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki (who has claimed two titles this summer, and is aiming for a third in New Haven this week), and a demonstrated ability to turn two weeks of Grand Slam tennis into a title, Sharapova has earned the right to be considered among the US Open favourites.
The question now is whether Sharapova can emerge from the pack to claim a fourth career Grand Slam title and with it emphatically announce her return to the game’s current elite.
There’s no doubt she’s got the ability to do so, and now the form too. It’s now just a matter of the 14th seed delivering when play gets underway at Flushing Meadows next week.
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