It would be very close. Sharapova at her peak has much better footwork to cope with Azarenka's grinding, and will have the best chance to win on faster hard courts, if they still exist.
In 2007, an 18 year old Azarenka straight stetted Sharapova just weeks before Maria went on to reach the YEC finals, and only a couple of months before Maria's AO 2008 run. And all of this in Sharapova's home tournament too.
In 2007, an 18 year old Azarenka straight stetted Sharapova just weeks before Maria went on to reach the YEC finals, and only a couple of months before Maria's AO 2008 run. And all of this in Sharapova's home tournament too.
True. However, that was Martha's first match after the USO. Her home tournament is a bit of overstatement :lol: Her results in Moscow are beyond abysmal.
I still think 2008 AO Maria would be tough for anybody to beat. And we never saw her get to develop beyond that or even hold that form because of her surgery.
Vika is still early in her career, and this is a great run, historic if she can win Miami also.
But time is the ultimate judge. Vika still has only made 1 slam final, only 2 slam semis.
Lets see how this year goes, and the next 5-10 years
Maria, at her best, would beat the Vika of today. Maria was always somewhat inconsistant, primarily due to her high risk game and less than great technique and movement.
i dont see maria ever winning another slam. if maria cannot win without, the williams, kimmie, and henin playing on tour..., she wont ever win. maria to be honest, cannot beat the second tier players.., kerber, rowanska, and most of the europeans and american scrapers pick=ems... maria is the weakest "2 ever and it's really sad. her serve is the least of her problems. her biggest problem is movement...lilly white gal is no athlete, all she does is try to hit it hard and harder.
When Maria won the AO in 2008, she was still only 20, which is younger than Vika, Caro, are now. We'll never know what would have happened.
Maria now grinds thru long matches, like vs Kirilenko.
At 2008 AO she beat Justine 64 60, and Dementieva only got 2 games. I saw that whole match, it was as onesided as the score. Maria was pounding the ball into corners & coming to net to end the point. Elena had to hit passing shots on the run to win a point
Peak ballbashers defeat peak grinders if they are in the same overall league. Their peak, however, is usually more brittle and shorter. On her best day Sharapova would have won easily against Azarenka playing her best as of now. But over a season, with both in their prime, it would be relatively close and down to surface and match dramaturgy.
Maria, easily. Watch any match from the AO Open and imagine Azarenka instead of Henin or Jankovic. Maria was actually winning most of the long rallies.
Btw, that Moscow match is irrelevant. Watch the highlights from that match; I can only imagine the amount of UEs Maria made, 'cause she was owning Victoria with her FH. The highlights reel has like 2 winners from Azarenka or smth.
and i agree with the statement, that Maria reached her peak at 20 (Azarenka was older reaching her peak), maybe earlier and no one can know now if she wouldn´t be better
Excluding the fact Im a Pova fan , I would say that Vika is not that type of players who would trouble Maria at her best . At their best Maria just does everything better than Vika ( expect volleys).
Peak Maria 6-3 6-2. People forget what a great serve she used to have and how she would just paint the lines with her fantastic groundstrokes, rather than this hopeless bashing through the middle. Azarenka can't deal with accurate angles, she has to run too much to defend against it. That's why when Serena plays well Azarenka can't do anything. A peak Maria would do the same to Azarenka.
If one is talking about who is the better player, at this point of Azarenka's "peak" which could still go alot higher as far as level of play potentially, peak Maria is easily better. Azarenka even as she currently is would never beat prime Serena and peak Henin in easy straight sets in slam finals as Maria did. Her level is good enough to dominate for the time being the abysmal WTA, and I am so glad someone has emerged to do that, but wouldnt be so formidable even half a decade ago. However if we are talking a head to head matchup between the two, Azarenka is a nightmare matchup for Maria, so it is harder to say. I think in a head to head Azarenka wins on slower surfaces and Sharapova on faster ones.
It's hard for me to accept anyone from this era as better than peak Sharapova even though peak Sharapova is somewhat overrated. She beat Serena and Henin in major finals and that to me is worth more than anything Azarenka has done so far. Despite her great run I'm not convinced because the competition is not even close. Vika can't even beat her only rival, KvittyGOAT.
Maria 2008 AO form was just superb, winner after winner after winner. juju and jeja who were probably the best 2 movers at the time couldn't stay in a rally at all. i wasn't even mad at jelena after that loss, maria was just outstanding... azarenka has great potential but maria's A game is just on another level compered to vika's :shrug: