[FakeMashabator]

This thread, by no way, is meant to bring pova down for losing the finals listed here. Like she always said in her press: losing in a final is disappointing, but it also means she is winning more matches than many players to advance to the final.

But there are some matches, where she was just outplayed by a better opponent and couldn't do anything and matches where she was just plain bad and displayed sucktastic tennis and couldn't keep more than 3 balls in the court.

Which of these final looses hurt you most, haunt you so bad whenever you think of it and still wish she would have won, somehow?

2004 Zurich Final: A.Molik def. M.Sharapova 4-6, 6-2, 6-3



2005 Miami Final: K.Clijsters def. M.Sharapova 6-3, 7-5



2006 Dubai Final: J.Henin def. M.Sharapova 7-5, 6-2



2006 Miami Final: S.Kuznetsova def. M.Sharapova 6-4, 6-3



2007 Australian Open: S.Williams def. M.Sharapova 6-1, 6-2



2007 Birmingham: J.Jankovic def. M.Sharapova 4-6, 6-3, 7-5



2007 YEC: J.Henin def. M.Sharapova 5-7, 7-5, 6-3



2009 Rogers Cup: E.Dementieva def. M.Sharapova 6-4, 6-3



2010 Birmingham: N.Li def. M.Sharapova 7-5, 6-1



2010 Stanford: V.Azarenka def. M.Sharapova 6-4, 6-1



2010 Cincinnati: K.Clijsters def. M.Sharapova 2-6, 7-6, 6-2



2011 Miami: V.Azarenka def. M.Sharapova 6-1, 6-4



2011 Wimbledon: P.Kvitova def. M.Sharapova 6-3, 6-4



2012 Australian Open: V.Azarenka def. M.Sharapova 6-3, 6-0



2012 Indian Wells: V.Azarenka def. M.Sharapova 6-3, 6-2



2012 Miami: A.Radwanska def. M.Sharapova 7-5, 6-4



2012 Olympics: S.Williams def. M.Sharapova 6-0, 6-1



2012 Beijing: V.Azarenka def. M.Sharapova 6-3, 6-1

[Trih]

The thing that haunts me so bad is the fact I only saw the last 6 of those finals.
IT: 2012 AO and OG.

[Stonerpova]

Australia this year. She was never going to beat Serena at the Olympics, and I do wish that she had won more than one fucking game, but losing 3 and 0 in a slam final to Azarenka still hurts.

[tennis-insomniac]

Nothing compares the Cincy 2010 final for me, 3 MPs blown by Masha in the final? almost unheard of from a player like Maria, I think it was the only time she did that. That's the worst loss in final by Sharapova for me.

[FakeMashabator]

For me,
(1)AO 07. She was not going to win with the way serena was playing at the other side, but I still wish it wasn't as bad of a beatdown as it was. That beatdown leaves a big scar on pova for the rest of her career, while playing serena
(2)Miami 2012 (one of the matches where she wasn't necessarily outplayed and she let it slip away out of her hands)

[Mexicola]

That 2010 Cincy Final was bad. She played such great tennis in those first two sets against Clijsters and that title would have been a tremendous accomplishment in an otherwise tough year. But Maria let the incoming storms distract her and she started rushing, trying to get the match over with, and made mistakes at the worst time, blowing those MPs. After she lost that second set, I've never seen Maria look so visibly distraught on a tennis court. Michael was doing everything he could to keep her positive, but Maria looked totally defeated. The 3rd set was just a formality.

It's also hard to choose between the Grand Slam final losses. They were all humiliating. But the Aussie loss this year is probably the worst because that feeble performance pretty much created the new Vika, who was suddenly not a headcase anymore. Maria had 2-0, 0-30. Who knows, if Maria put her foot down right there and gotten a second break, maybe the old Vika shows up. I just didn't expect it to be Maria that crumbled in such spectacular fashion. It was the match that made me consider that maybe Maria really isn't that mentally tough.

[Stonerpova]

Originally Posted by Mexicola

That 2010 Cincy Final was bad. She played such great tennis in those first two sets against Clijsters and that title would have been a tremendous accomplishment in an otherwise tough year. But Maria let the incoming storms distract her and she started rushing, trying to get the match over with, and made mistakes at the worst time, blowing those MPs. After she lost that second set, I've never seen Maria look so visibly distraught on a tennis court. Michael was doing everything he could to keep her positive, but Maria looked totally defeated. The 3rd set was just a formality.

It's also hard to choose between the Grand Slam final losses. They were all humiliating. But the Aussie loss this year is probably the worst because that feeble performance pretty much created the new Vika, who was suddenly not a headcase anymore. Maria had 2-0, 0-30. Who knows, if Maria put her foot down right there and gotten a second break, maybe the old Vika shows up. I just didn't expect it to be Maria that crumbled in such spectacular fashion. It was the match that made me consider that maybe Maria really isn't that mentally tough.

I think it just showed that she wanted it too much. Her ability to rebound from that match and final losses in IW and Miami to tear up the clay season is a testament to her mental fortitude and her resilience. She won a game in the Olympic final, got sick and missed the entire US Open series, and still managed to get to the US Open semis and give Azarenka a fight on hardcourts for once. She certainly has a mental block against Aza now, but she's still tough as nails.

[Mexicola]

I also have to say that looking at all of these pictures of Maria holding runner-up trophys is pretty depressing.

But I thought that 2012 Miami tournament with she-who-shall-not-be-named never actually happened? That must be a doctored picture....

[Cherry.]

Miami 2012. I will never ever get over this.
No Serena, no Vika. Golden chance and BAM, she wasted it like that.

[Mexicola]

Originally Posted by Griffin.

I think it just showed that she wanted it too much. Her ability to rebound from that match and final losses in IW and Miami to tear up the clay season is a testament to her mental fortitude and her resilience. She won a game in the Olympic final, got sick and missed the entire US Open series, and still managed to get to the US Open semis and give Azarenka a fight on hardcourts for once. She certainly has a mental block against Aza now, but she's still tough as nails.

That is true. I've never seen a player who recovers quicker from bad matches, bad losses, bad string of DFs, bad points. It's like she has delete button in her head.

[ziros]

For me,it was AO '07. Maria was the favourite for that match for sure,she'd played the best tennis throughout the tournament and at that time no one knew she was going to become Serena's punching bag. It looked like Henin,Sharapova,Clijsters were the players of the future and Serena was finished. Serena was in terrible shape and had only won one slam in the last 3 and a half years going in. Didn't see it coming at all,and if you look back,not many did. It took me a long,long time to get over that match,and probably Maria as well. Maybe she still hasn't got over that match fully

[denny5576]

Lost final cannot be so painful because in any case Maria is already in the final which always is a great achievement. For me the most painful are:
- AO 2005 loss to Serena
- RG 2011 loss to LI Na

[WowWow]

Losing to someone like Aga must hurt the most.

[CareerSlamPova]

So many choices from this year.

Definitely Miami 2012 for me, she was the overwhelming favorite and completely fucked up.

[domon17th]

See the difference between pre-surgery final losses and post-surgery final losses? Not only the quality of the opposition, but the quality of her own play. That's the major difference here.

And with everything, the inevitability and all, I still say that AO07 final loss against Sarin. That was the one that took me a while to get over.