A fit Sharapova might have summoned one of her grinding performances against an opponent more than a class below her but this display brought reminders of the frailties in her immune system which she has admitted might shorten her career, writes Richard Jago.
Maria Sharapova slumped to the worst Wimbledon performance and the most dramatic setback of her career — a straight-sets second-round beating from a player ranked 154th in the world which raised significant questions about her long-term future.
Sharapova has several times expressed concerns about her health this year, and this was a shrieking, grimacing parody of the domineering play which won her the Wimbledon title four years ago and the Australian Open in January this year.
Her 6-2, 6-4 loss to Alla Kudryavtseva was also full of indifferent serving, ground-stroking errors and fretful, anxious gestures, all of which might have led to a heavier defeat still had she not managed a brief rally of characteristic defiance in the second set.
Sharapova’s total of eight double-faults raised further concerns about the long-lasting shoulder injury which sidelined her for many weeks in 2007 and contributed to a reduced schedule this year, with huge fines imposed on her for withdrawing from tournaments at short notice. She also suffered from an inability to overcome her lack of match practice. A fit Sharapova might have summoned one of her grinding performances against an opponent more than a class below her but this display brought reminders of the frailties in her immune system which she has admitted might shorten her career.
Earlier this year Sharapova volunteered that she did not expect to be playing by the time of the 2016 Olympics, when she will be 29, and when asked to comment on Justine Henin’s surprise retirement at the age of 25 recently, she said that in the Belgian’s situation she would have done the same thing.
Asked now if she was fully fit, Sharapova replied “uh-huh”. Her answer was hardly emphatic and her decision to drop a warm-up grass-court tournament from her pre-Wimbledon schedule for the first time and to return home to Florida suggested otherwise.
She certainly did not strike the ball with anything like her usual penetration and when she also served three double-faults to drop serve and go 2-4 down, her opponent’s attitude visibly brightened.
Kudryavtseva, a fellow Russian and Floridian resident, has been an occasional practice partner of Sharapova and the experience may have prevented her from being overawed. So may have her father Alexander, a world champion at Greco-Roman wrestling in the 1980s. It was from him, she claimed, that she had inherited her fighting spirit. “Thank you, dad, I got it from you,” she said, cheerfully playing the media game. She also claimed, laughingly, that she had hit him once.
Crucially Kudryavtseva, who last year came within two points of beating eventual champion Venus Williams in the first round, also had an ability to project the ball flatter than Sharapova, which meant that when she got a good strike into the rally she was frequently placing the world No. 3 under greater pressure. Even though Sharapova nosed ahead at 2-0 in the second set, she was unfussily hauled back by Kudryavtseva, an unglamorous and business-like contrast to her fashion-conscious opponent. Kudryavtseva then pushed on strongly to 4-2. Sharapova recovered to 4-4 despite a bad line decision which would have put her 3-5 down had she not won a Hawk-Eye appeal. That brought a replayed point, which she won, and a murderous stare at the line judge which appeared less successful.
Afterwards Kudryavtseva was asked if she was glad to have beaten Sharapova, and said, “Yes”, following it with a long pause, after which she explained smilingly that this was because “I don’t like her outfit.”
Sharapova’s conclusions were cerebral and icy. “I have had to deal with a lot of ups and downs in my life, on and off the court,” she said. “But the number one thing is not to be disappointed by that, or by losses, or by negative things, things here and there. You have to find a way to keep your head even though it’s pretty tough.” This, though, was surely her toughest setback yet. The negatives will not go away easily.
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