2015 Wimbledon SF: Sharapova Vs. Williams

[sk310]

This has got to be the saddest matchup in tennis. Because you know it could be so much more. You can hardly blame Maria. I partially wonder sometimes if she just knows that post surgery, she just can't do some things, like her old service motion, if she wants to preserve he career. And that is going to put her at a disadvantage against Serena. And she just has to say to herself, I can go out and compete and even if I don't win, if I'm playing her, I've made the semis of whatever tournament or further and I'll be able to play the next week too. If losing to Serena, even to the point of embarrassment, is Maria's biggest problem in her life or even just on the tennis court, she's gonna be ok. She'll keep plugging away and winning titles that she can. Making money. Building a still wonderful legacy.

From a 20min in and out laser surgery? Please it's time to stop blaming the so call surgery.

I could not agree more... She was almost never REALLY dominant of the field before surgery. In Serena's absence in the mid 2000s Justine was more dominant than Maria. Maria has always had the same trajectory. In her best years she has at very best a few months of really solid play that builds up to a slam win. 2012 was the only year she made more than one slam final. Arguably when she became a better clay court player she's become a better player than she was before surgery.

 

[tossip]

Maria is delusional to think that Serena brings the best against her and Azarenka...Serena is very competitive and remember when she used to beat Venus in all those finals or the way she used to own Mauresmo something like 9-1 and Clijsters 7-2 Na li 10-1 or Davenport...Azarenka plays her best against Serena...she had lots of chances to win Madrid 15 it was on her racket she definitely cannot blame Serena or AO10...USA Open12 she was serving for the match and failed is that Serena s fault.RG15 she was leading and failed to win...
Serena mentally owns these players....I hope Vika will not become bitter like Dementieva and Safina.

 

[tented]

Maria is delusional to think that Serena brings the best against her and Azarenka...

These days, Serena definitely needs to bring her best against Azarenka, hence the number of close, competitive matches.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I think Dominatrix should hire a scheduler in her team who can minimize the number of non-mandatory tourneys in which she has the possibility of running into Serena. Wait until Serena makes her pick of the non-mandatory tourneys and then avoid them like Plague.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I have not read through this entire thread. But, I do have a quick question which is probably answered somewhere in this thread already. Is this 17 consecutive defeats to the same player a
WTA record? If not what is the longest such a streak between any two WTA players?

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Googled it up. It is not even close to a record. Martina Navaratilova beat Pam Shriver 29 consecutive times. Also, Chris Evert beat Virginia Ruzici 23 times.

But, Sharapova is a much better known opponent being multiple GS winner, not to mention Career GS winner.

 

[Kirijax]

Googled it up. It is not even close to a record. Martina Navaratilova beat Pam Shriver 29 consecutive times. Also, Chris Evert beat Virginia Ruzici 23 times.

But, Sharapova is a much better known opponent being multiple GS winner, not to mention Career GS winner.

For a career Slam winner to have such a record against another top player is truly unbelievable. Evert had her losing streak against Navratilova when the later got serious about her conditioning, but even Evert was able to grab some wins again later in the rivalry. It's looking more and more like Sharapova is going to be stuck on 2 wins for good.

 

[Fefe26]

even though i enjoy watching the look of despairon maria's face, i dont want to see these two play again.boring.

 

[sk310]

even though i enjoy watching the look of despairon maria's face, i dont want to see these two play again.boring.

Honestly I don't really watch a Serena Maria match unless its a final. Even then I pretty much know the outcome. It's not even entertaining. I know Serena's athleticism and making Maria move just absolutely slaughters any game plan Maria has but still come on...

 

[tossip]

even though i enjoy watching the look of despairon maria's face, i dont want to see these two play again.boring.

I thoroughly enjoy every match..:snicker..just to see egotistical pova near tears and leaving the court with the tail between her legs is fun..:snicker

 

[tented]

even though i enjoy watching the look of despairon maria's face, i dont want to see these two play again.boring.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! :clap

 

[Jelenafan]

What makes it more remarkable is that those 17 wins by Serena span 11 consecutive years. Even the 29 match win streak of Martina N. over Pam Shriver "only" covered 9 years, and as mentioned, Pam was never a Major winner, making one solitary Major final in her whole career.

 

[Kirijax]

So did Shriver have only that one win over Navratilova at the '82 U.S. Open. Some sort of energy-sapping illness that Navratilova got from, rumor is, her cat. I remember someone saying, "What is toxoplasmosis?" "You get it from a cat and play like a dog." :snicker

 

[Jelenafan]

Pammy also actually upset Martina N. as a teenager in the 78 USO SF's when Martina was the current Wimbledon champ and #1 seed, 7-6, 7-6. In 1980 she even beat Martina on grass in Sydney. So Pam had 2 major match wins over Martina in her career.

 

[Kirijax]

Pammy also actually upset Martina N. as a teenager in the 78 USO SF's when Martina was the current Wimbledon champ and #1 seed, 7-6, 7-6. In 1980 she even beat Martina on grass in Sydney. So Pam had 2 major match wins over Martina in her career.

Thanks Jelenafan! My memory is not as good as it used to be.

 

[jhar26]

Googled it up. It is not even close to a record. Martina Navaratilova beat Pam Shriver 29 consecutive times. Also, Chris Evert beat Virginia Ruzici 23 times.

But, Sharapova is a much better known opponent being multiple GS winner, not to mention Career GS winner.

For a career Slam winner to have such a record against another top player is truly unbelievable. Evert had her losing streak against Navratilova when the later got serious about her conditioning, but even Evert was able to grab some wins again later in the rivalry. It's looking more and more like Sharapova is going to be stuck on 2 wins for good.

And after they changed from wood to graphite (and bigger frames) which no doubt was to Navratilova's advantage.

 

[jhar26]

This has got to be the saddest matchup in tennis. Because you know it could be so much more. You can hardly blame Maria. I partially wonder sometimes if she just knows that post surgery, she just can't do some things, like her old service motion, if she wants to preserve he career. And that is going to put her at a disadvantage against Serena. And she just has to say to herself, I can go out and compete and even if I don't win, if I'm playing her, I've made the semis of whatever tournament or further and I'll be able to play the next week too. If losing to Serena, even to the point of embarrassment, is Maria's biggest problem in her life or even just on the tennis court, she's gonna be ok. She'll keep plugging away and winning titles that she can. Making money. Building a still wonderful legacy.

From a 20min in and out laser surgery? Please it's time to stop blaming the so call surgery.

How is it a "so call surgery?" It was a surgery, they take time to recover from. Ask Murray.

Having said that, I agree, can't blame the surgery; even if Maria hadn't had it, she's in Serena's sights now. Wouldn't make a diff if she had surgery to make her better at tennis...

If you don't like Sharapova than the surgery is a "so-called" surgery. Just like when if you don't like Seles than the stabbing was a scratch. Fandom, or anti-fandom often brings out the worst in people. It's the war of the tribes stuff that goes hand in hand with sports, unfortunately.

Whether the surgery made a difference vs Serena, who knows? Probably not, but it can't have helped, that's for sure.

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

I am a Serena fan, and I can admit her serve was never the same after surgery. Although, her record before her surgery shows that her game didn't make her a dominant force. 2004-2007 when Serena was average to poor Sharapova won 2 slams. That right there shows you that her game had limitations despite having a decent serve at the time. The big difference after the surgery was the double faults and the second serve fell apart which didn't help the limited scope of her game illustrated by the fact that she couldn't take advantage of Serena's low point and clean up at the slams.

Just because the procedure itself might not have been invasive, it doesn't mean that it didn't have a lasting effect on her.

 

[Federberg]

^I really don't think it's the surgery that's caused the serving issues. As I recall the surgery was on her right shoulder. Her problem is unquestionably her erratic ball toss. That's her left hand. It is a technical issue, which I would have thought should be relatively simple to fix, so it makes me wonder if there isn't a mental aspect to it. I mean really... how difficult is it to toss a ball up in a consistent way?

 

[jhar26]

I am a Serena fan, and I can admit her serve was never the same after surgery. Although, her record before her surgery shows that her game didn't make her a dominant force. 2004-2007 when Serena was average to poor Sharapova won 2 slams. That right there shows you that her game had limitations despite having a decent serve at the time. The big difference after the surgery was the double faults and the second serve fell apart which didn't help the limited scope of her game illustrated by the fact that she couldn't take advantage of Serena's low point and clean up at the slams.

Just because the procedure itself might not have been invasive, it doesn't mean that it didn't have a lasting effect on her.

Indeed. Sharapova's game has always had it's limitations, even when she was at her best. Perhaps it sounds a bit too harsh to call her a one trick pony (?). Not that it has prevented her from having a great career, because it's one hell of a trick when she's firing on all cilinders. Still, Serena is just too good for her. Even tenacity and fighting spirit can only take you so far. There's no shame in that. 12 years at the top of the most popular sport for women in the world is pretty awesome.