Applauding Sharapova's Biggest Fan
It was inevitable, and on the backside of the woman's run to the final of the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world. And it was probably not the first time the query has been drummed up: Does Sasha Vujacic "deserve" Maria Sharapova?
Never mind that the actual Wimbledon winner, 21-year-old Petra Kvitova, has a 16-year-old boyfriend, which is completely legal in the Czech Republic, among other nations, as the Daily Forehand reports. That relationship seems to cause little to no stir (yet), as 1) Kvitova has been unflinchingly honest about it, and 2) It lacks the Moscow-meets-LA(-moves-to-New-Jersey) glam factor.
No, Grantland went the way of Deadspin or The Bleacher Report on this one, with a writer weighing in on whether certain star athletes, a few tennis players among them, truly deserve the ones they married. Or had. The funniest line of the piece? This: "Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi are still kind of confusing, but at least she got him to stop doing drugs and gluing wigs on his head." Oddly, though, the article left out any mention of Serena Williams and her dalliances with the likes of the rapper Common, NFL star LaDainian Tomlinson, et al.
So, does he deserve her? Well, if one poses such a leading question, he is of course, consciously or not, basically answering it for himself already. "No, Vujacic does not deserve her." That said, nothing but props—do people still dole out "props"? kudos? what?—at this end go out to the former Los Angeles Laker turned New Jersey Nyet. (Vujacic is actually Slovenian, not Russian.) Sasha, the newly minted Cheerleader in Chief at Slams and smaller events, makes for quite the players-box refresher. If his presence makes Sharapova more at ease and apt to reach a major semifinal on her worst surface and then the title bout of the big W, more power to her, him, them.
Besides, Sasha is a lot less skeevy than, say, Adam Levine of Maroon 5, once rumored to have frolicked with Sharapova. Although headlines about "The Voice" meets "The Shriek" would eventually write themselves, there's fodder aplenty in this true inter-sport romance for the gossip mill to chew on and then churn out its dreck.
VERDICT, as such things are all the rage lately (see: Anthony, Casey)—Sashapova for the win. Except when it's a loss, as with that desultory 4-and-3 beating that his lady took on the lawn on Saturday. Even so, the guy has such a jock mentality, a thirst for competition, and an adorably goofy way of rooting on his betrothed that he should have garnered an endorsement from The Clapper already. It may be poor form to root against someone's career, but if Vujacic's Nets squad continues on its horrid path in the NBA, he could be around to support his fiancée for the 2012 French-Wimbledon swing as well. And when it comes down to it, a highly visible Maria Sharapova playing well in the second week of a Grand Slam event will always be good for tennis.
—Jonathan Scott (@jonscott9)
