SINGAPORE—Maria Sharapova, who will play Simona Halep Tuesday at the WTA Finals, says that over the past two years she has begun to mix up her shots and come forward to the net with greater frequency. The 28-year-old baseliner rarely charged toward the net and used drop shots in the past, but the tall, big hitter has gradually changed her approach.
“I think I enjoy the process of I guess working on it and then delivering it,” Sharapova said. “Because what's the point of working on certain things when you're not using it in the match? I think that's something I've worked on a lot with [my coach] Sven [Groeneveld], moving forward.
“I feel a lot more comfortable at the net. That I think helps you from the back of the court as well, just having the feeling that you can move forward and mixing things up. I've done that I think quite well this year, I would say, in the limited amount of time I've played.”
Sharapova is 5-0 head to head against Halep, the top seed in Singapore. They haven’t played against each other since 2014, when the Russian beat Halep in Madrid, the French Open, and in Cincinnati.