Tennis.com's Tignor: "Federer: effortless, Sharapova: there's nothing but effort"
http://66.232.148.140/blogs/thewrap/index.asp
The double hair flip and mini-jog before she serves are exasperating, and I’m not sure I would have the patience to stay in my return stance through her various rituals. Which is the point, I suppose. I timed Sharapova between a few of her service points and she clocked in at 26 or 27 seconds every time, just over the 25-second limit. Sharapova controls the tempo of a match—and drives her opponents crazy—with precision. This weekend, though, her play was more fun to watch than usual, as she steamrolled Martina Hingis and Elena Dementieva to win her first tournament in nine months.
Glamour girl status aside, Sharapova doesn’t play a pretty game. But watching her hack her forehand into the corners on Saturday I found myself thinking, “Well, Steffi Graf’s was no beauty either.” Not that the two are comparable, exactly—Graf’s forehand was one of the all-time weapons, and she was twice the mover Sharapova is. What’s impressive about Sharapova is how consistent she is with such a herky-jerky motion and small margin for error. With Federer, everything is effortless; with Sharapova, there’s nothing but effort. In every great shot she hits, you can see the hours of grindingly repetitive target practice that went into it. Which is just as impressive, in its own way.
Sharapova hadn’t won in so long, I forgot how she used to celebrate. Remember the screaming at God, the long kisses to the crowd, the way she crumpled to the ground and closed her eyes like she’d just been shot after she beat Serena Williams at the WTA Championships? Saturday she honed it down to a civilized, albeit girly, dual fist-pump.
:tape:
http://66.232.148.140/blogs/thewrap/index.asp
The double hair flip and mini-jog before she serves are exasperating, and I’m not sure I would have the patience to stay in my return stance through her various rituals. Which is the point, I suppose. I timed Sharapova between a few of her service points and she clocked in at 26 or 27 seconds every time, just over the 25-second limit. Sharapova controls the tempo of a match—and drives her opponents crazy—with precision. This weekend, though, her play was more fun to watch than usual, as she steamrolled Martina Hingis and Elena Dementieva to win her first tournament in nine months.
Glamour girl status aside, Sharapova doesn’t play a pretty game. But watching her hack her forehand into the corners on Saturday I found myself thinking, “Well, Steffi Graf’s was no beauty either.” Not that the two are comparable, exactly—Graf’s forehand was one of the all-time weapons, and she was twice the mover Sharapova is. What’s impressive about Sharapova is how consistent she is with such a herky-jerky motion and small margin for error. With Federer, everything is effortless; with Sharapova, there’s nothing but effort. In every great shot she hits, you can see the hours of grindingly repetitive target practice that went into it. Which is just as impressive, in its own way.
Sharapova hadn’t won in so long, I forgot how she used to celebrate. Remember the screaming at God, the long kisses to the crowd, the way she crumpled to the ground and closed her eyes like she’d just been shot after she beat Serena Williams at the WTA Championships? Saturday she honed it down to a civilized, albeit girly, dual fist-pump.
:tape:
