Well, it's over... and there was little doubt whose game was dominant, and no matter what the statistics may tell us, I know why Sharapova was off. It wasn't the airplane, it wasn't her denied request for a bathroom break, it wasn't her 16 unforced errors on the forehand side in the first set, it was her grunt.
She started to get in tune down 2-5 in the first, when her tone stopped sounding like a cluck, but she was unable to hold the intensity and faltered badly in the second, finally able to offer much more than a futile yip while sending imprecise lobs back to her opponent.
I'm sure she'll be consulting a voice coach before her next match. Svetlana, you now officially own her, if only for another week.
I have seen Sharapova have meltdowns like this before. In all fairness, I think Mary Joe Fernandez's observation that after a week of tennis, she might be feeling her shoulder injury, was possibly part of the problem. My husband thought it might also have been that Kuznetsova was changing around the speeds of her serves and not allowing Maria to get a rhythm.
It's nice to see Kuzzy make a big comeback like this. When she's on, there's no stopping her.
2 Comments:
Well, it's over... and there was little doubt whose game was dominant, and no matter what the statistics may tell us, I know why Sharapova was off. It wasn't the airplane, it wasn't her denied request for a bathroom break, it wasn't her 16 unforced errors on the forehand side in the first set, it was her grunt.
She started to get in tune down 2-5 in the first, when her tone stopped sounding like a cluck, but she was unable to hold the intensity and faltered badly in the second, finally able to offer much more than a futile yip while sending imprecise lobs back to her opponent.
I'm sure she'll be consulting a voice coach before her next match. Svetlana, you now officially own her, if only for another week.
By
Anonymous, at
12:51 PM
I have seen Sharapova have meltdowns like this before. In all fairness, I think Mary Joe Fernandez's observation that after a week of tennis, she might be feeling her shoulder injury, was possibly part of the problem. My husband thought it might also have been that Kuznetsova was changing around the speeds of her serves and not allowing Maria to get a rhythm.
It's nice to see Kuzzy make a big comeback like this. When she's on, there's no stopping her.
By
Diane, at
1:23 PM
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