| WIMBLEDON:
DAY 11
Sharapova stands tall to reach final
Serena takes out Mauresmo; still the one
to beat
By Sandra Harwitt
Special to tennisreporters.net
Geographically speaking, Wimbledon
finalist Maria Sharapova is a winning blend of Russian citizen-American
resident in that she spent the first years of her life in icy
Siberia, moving at 9 to balmy Florida to train for a future life
as a tennis champion. Clearly, the contrasting climates have translated
well into Sharapova's performance at this year's Wimbledon: She's
playing red-hot tennis and is freezing out opponents at will.
As many are well aware, Sharapova is not the first statuesque
Russian blond teen with a modeling contract to hit the tennis
radar screen. But unlike the exceptionally popular Russian, Anna
Kournikova, who was 16 when she reached the '97 Wimbledon semifinal,
Sharapova's mind does not get muddled in all the glamour.
At 17 years, two months old, Sharapova is all business –
tennis business, that is. And after fighting back from 6-2, 3-1
down in a rain-delayed semifinal against former champion Lindsay
Davenport, Sharapova carved out a 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 win in one
hour, 53 minutes. Sharapova is now the youngest Wimbledon finalist
since Martina Hingis captured the famed "Rosewater dish"
at age 16 in 1997.
Now Sharapova will face the toughest test possible by taking on
two-time defending champion Serena Williams, who put in a gutsy
performance to win a 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 6-4 uphill battle against
fourth-seed Amelie Mauresmo.
While outsiders are quick to make comparisons to the attractive
Kournikova, the No. 13 seeded Sharapova is much more intent on
carving out her own reputation, a goal she is becoming increasingly
effective in meeting. And it's hard to draw the comparison at
this juncture, with Kournikova sidelined for over a year with
a serious back injury and still yet to win a career title; while
Sharapova has won three career trophies, including the Birmingham
grass tune-up trophy a few weeks ago, and is now in position to
win a first Grand Slam trophy.
DIDN'T EXPECT TO MAKE IT SO FAR
Personality-wise, Sharapova seems to possess an infectious combination
of mature competitor and youthful delight. After working to calm
her nerves to eventually upend the 28-year-old Davenport, who
is quite likely to have bid farewell to Wimbledon forever with
her semifinal finish, Sharapova was all innocence. The teenager
said, "It's unbelievable. I'm in the final. It's absolutely crazy.
It's my favorite Grand Slam. I don't know what to say, I'm going
to cry right now."
Sharapova has been a serious threat to emerge as a major name
in the game for a while. Now she's showing that all the talk was
not just talk, but a careful analysis of the talent she possesses.
"The women's tennis today was terrific and it's been a long
time since I've been able to say that," said former player
and TV commentator Mary Carillo. "Sharapova is gutsy and
bold. She reminds me of when [Boris] Becker took this place over
when he was 17-years-old. I don't think she's going to be happy
unless she wins this thing and I like the look of that."
Nevertheless, Sharapova is the first to admit that she never expected
to be in contention for a Wimbledon title at such young age.
"I never expected it to happen so early in my life,"
she said, honestly. "I knew I could achieve many things if
I worked hard and if I believed in myself but I never expected
to do so well at such an early age. I mean, good results, yeah
... but to get to the final of Wimbledon – my favorite tournament
– is just amazing."
Unnerved by the fact that the veteran Davenport was ahead, even
twice coming close enough to be a point away from serving for
the match in the second set, Sharapova continued on as if opportunity
was knocking. In the end, Sharapova's aggressive nature that led
her to 46 outright winners to only 26 for Davenport, made her
the first Russian since Olga Morozova in 1974 to reach the Wimbledon
final.
Serena takes out Mauresmo; still the one
to beat
As for Williams, it's hard not to applaud her ability to knock
on a tournament door after playing little tennis all year long,
not to mention moving fairly unscathed into the final. Nevertheless,
her ability to fade in-and-out of the game as opposed to displaying
a full-time passion for tennis continues to raise questions as
to the message that ability sends.
Clearly, Williams is still in control; a force to be reckoned
with at any time. Thus far in this fortnight, Mauresmo presented
the only powerful challenge to push Williams towards the exit.
The problem is Serena tends to pick the spots when she wants to
ignite her competitive spirit and to not be thinking about missing
out on choice acting assignments. As it stands, Williams is free
to come and go from tennis as she likes, but it doesn't help the
sport for someone to be able to move in-and-out of the game with
little consequence.
An astute student of the game, Carillo admits that it concerns
her when Serena can put in a part-time commitment and fare well
because she believes "tennis is not a game you can play part-time
and be a champion." It is her impression that this Wimbledon
has revived Serena's competitive juices, and she's quite confident
that Serena understands it is her tennis champion status that
opens doors to acting jobs and designing clothes.
MAURESMO MISSES ANOTHER FINAL
In the here and now, Thursday was another disappointing day for
the superbly talented Mauresmo, who is six long years from her
only Grand Slam final appearance at the '99 Australian Open.
Mauresmo, however, who became
bothered by her chronic lower back problem when leading the match
midway through the second set, has a very positive note to take
away from the encounter. The match could actually be a corner
turned for the Frenchwoman, who has so often lost matches because
she was quite frankly a "head case." This match against
Serena, however, was a superb athletic encounter and despite the
situation with her back, Mauresmo showed she does have the character
to fight to the very end and not crumble. This is a trait that
she should keep in her bag of tricks if she hopes to one day score
what would be a well-deserved Grand Slam trophy.
And for Davenport, who possibly needs further surgery on an already
repaired knee and sees motherhood in the not-to-distant future,
she leaves Wimbledon, possibly for the last time, knowing she
gave the attempt to win a fourth Grand Slam title her very best
effort.
But for tennis fans, the potential for a VERY compelling women's
final seems in the offing. And unless Sharapova decides for the
first time this fortnight that she's nervous – thus far
she's playing fearless tennis – she should give the reigning
champion a run for her money. |
