Any thoughts on why Sharapova isn't playing any Wimbledon tuneups?
 

Most years before 2011 she played Birmingham. Why the change in approach?

Re: Any thoughts on why Sharapova isn't playing any Wimbledon tuneups?
 

- She just had two weeks full of tennis, so some rest would help.
- She (almost) never played in the week before a slam.

Re: Any thoughts on why Sharapova isn't playing any Wimbledon tuneups?
 

because
-there's no point wasting energy to beat up on some scrubs
-practicing with male hitting partner is probably much more benefitting in a long run anyway

Re: Any thoughts on why Sharapova isn't playing any Wimbledon tuneups?
 

She's probably "dog tired" and could use the break. She made it to the end of the 3 previous tournaments. What other player could boast that? :hi5:

Re: Any thoughts on why Sharapova isn't playing any Wimbledon tuneups?
 

Technically, Maria didn't make it to the end of Madrid.

Re: Any thoughts on why Sharapova isn't playing any Wimbledon tuneups?
 

okay 3 of the last 4!

Re: Any thoughts on why Sharapova isn't playing any Wimbledon tuneups?
 

It would have been too much tennis for her if she played a tournament before Wimbledon this year. And she wouldn't really gain anything much.

Re: Any thoughts on why Sharapova isn't playing any Wimbledon tuneups?
 

She's played the Birmingham one some in years past..It's good she didn't this year..was a mess with all the rain delays etc..

Re: Any thoughts on why Sharapova isn't playing any Wimbledon tuneups?
 

She never played so many matches on clay before ahead of the grass season

Re: Any thoughts on why Sharapova isn't playing any Wimbledon tuneups?
 

She doesn't need one. She did very well at last year's Wimbledon and this year's Australian without playing any warm-ups, so she's obviously found an effective pre-Slam routine. And even if she doesn't go in with any grasscourt matches under her belt, she's had PLENTY of matchplay this year (I think her matches so far this year is a personal record for this early in the year), so she certainly isn't going to be rusty from a mental standpoint.

Much as it pains me to say it, I think we'll only see her play Birmingham again if she loses early at RG one year (and let's be honest, Claypova won't be losing early :cool: :p ).

Re: Any thoughts on why Sharapova isn't playing any Wimbledon tuneups?
 

Re: Any thoughts on why Sharapova isn't playing any Wimbledon tuneups?
 

Because she needs a break to come down from Paris. It's probably got more to do with emotional exhausiton than anything else :shrug:

Re: Any thoughts on why Sharapova isn't playing any Wimbledon tuneups?
 

Because she won Rome in 2011 and 2012 and then went far in RG. She'd probably love to play Birmingham, we all know she loves it, but management of her schedule is more important than sentiment for a MM.

Re: Any thoughts on why Sharapova isn't playing any Wimbledon tuneups?
 

Her clay season was extremely long and tough! So most of all she needs some rest. Moreover, last year she did fine without any warm-up tournament. The most important thing for her in Wimbledon is to serve well, as thing which wasn't working last year, so I hope she is working on that too!

Re: Any thoughts on why Sharapova isn't playing any Wimbledon tuneups?
 

I'd checked before posting this thread and - at least with Wimbledon -she almost always played a tuneup.