Really, I guess you have come to expect her bad serving patches as part of her game now.
She had several DFs that came at bad times and in a bunch.
That affected the rest of her game at the end of the first set and on.
The free swing, good timing, patience she had in the first 6 game of the first set, were replaced by uncertainty, hesitation, bad decision making forcing her to play from behind the rest of the match.
The so called highest paid womens athlete is a joke among true tennis greats.
I hope all her so called fans are crying right now. Slowpover doesn't deserve the accolades she gets, she's a joke. Enjoy all those millions of dollars that those racist sponsors gave you because of the color of you're skin and not you're talent loser.
Ths was one of the best fights I've seen in a while. Her rivalry with Vika should be considered a credit to the sport. Calling someone a joke who just fought for nearly 3 hours with true heart is disgusting
Vika had a late start in the first set and Maria surprisingly played much better today, she could keep up her level until the very end. In AO, she disappeared quickly once Vika found her rhythm.
I don't really think she was physically tired, it seemed like she was more mentally-drained. Probably because she wasted so much emotional energy in the 2nd set unnecessarily. She was still moving around the court ok in the 3rd set (whereas you'd assume if she was physically tired that she'd be slower), it was just she didn't seem to be moving her feet / engaging her brain, whereas at the beginning of the match her footwork and point-construction were flawless.
Who cares. She was going to get her butt kicked by Serena in the final anyway. It is not like she missed out on a chance of another slam title. With Serena playing freaking Errani in the other semi there never was one. Atleast Azarenka has a small chance vs Serena, Maria had none.
The strange thing for me was, when Sharapova stepped to the line to serve for the first set at 5-1, I was thinking it didn't matter because Azarenka was going to win the match anyway. I was convinced from the start that Azarenka was going to win the match, I knew she wouldn't panic and play at the same level while Sharapova would be up and down, that proved to be the case.
By the way, I really thought this was a poor quality match, the level of tennis was not that great. The amount of times Sharapova had a short ball in the middle of the court and instead of hitting and taking to the net, would hit the ball and immdediately retreat to the baseline. Ultimately Azarenka didn't allow Sharapova to get away with that complete lack of courage and belief. It's fine to take risks and hit out when on the baseline but the real courage is taking the ball on and challenge the opponent when the opportunity presents itself.
And also, Azarenka will have to play considerably better than this is she wants to win the tournament tommorrow night (weather permitting).
By the way, I really thought this was a poor quality match, the level of tennis was not that great. The amount of times Sharapova had a short ball in the middle of the court and instead of hitting and taking to the net, would hit the ball and immdediately retreat to the baseline.
Agree with all laurie said, it was horrible from both at times but because the point normally ended on a winner caused by the other players stupid shot choice, the media and public will lap this up.
It may be just me, but Maria lost that match because her forehand was awful. Everytime Vika wanted or needed a point she got it by hitting to Maria's forehand.
With Maria lately, her FH does not just become awful.
It starts with bad serving patch(back to back DFs, easy to return serve) than spread other aspect of her games, including but not limited to her forehand.
IN today's match, she had total control of the match with everything (serve, FH, BH) clicking, until she serve for the set at 5-1.
Then the serve totally deserted her.
She struggle to eventually win the set, but she was never the same again from the start of 2nd set and on.
She was playing from behind all the time, having to face several break, while Vika was finding her rhythm.
As I wrote before, this is highly stressful situation to go from holding easily and breaking at will, to constantly face breakpoints in your own serve while the opponent is now holding easily.
I do not think Sharapova is as mentally tough as the media are trying to say she is. When Sharapova gets tight she double faults a lot. I also think Sharapova is not as good an athlete as Azarenka. Victoria is much quicker and a superior athlete than Maria.
Well you have to take into account that it was her third three set match in a row after that highly emotional fight against Petrova and that weird match against Bartoli in which she somehow found a way to win whereas she looked dead and extremely unemotional for Maria's standards. You just knew at that point that she'd lose to either Azarenka or Serena, she didn't look fresh enough to go all the way that's for sure. Besides, she wasn't coming into this USO with the best preparation either ; she got that virus after the Olympics and didn't play any of the USO series events, I guess that didn't help. But you have to give the girl a break after that great year she's had though. She's been far in the draws of every big events except for Wimbledon.
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