by Pete Bodo
MIAMI—Implacable and unyielding are just two of the adjectives that come to mind these days when the subject is Maria Sharapova. Today, she showed why in a borderline-cruel punishment of Li Na in the Sony Ericsson Open quarterfinals.
Li was riding a four match-winning streak over the WTA No. 2, and the Chinese French Open champ hadn’t lost a set during that run. Known as an inconsistent champion, Li appeared to be on the uptick again, having also reached the quarterfinals at the competitive Indian Wells event a little over a week ago.
In her first three matches here, Sharapova once again struggled with her serve. She had committed 29 double faults (11, 7, and 11 respectively), but it appears that Sharapova had decided that she’d had it about up to here with the scampering Li—as well as those serves that she’s sent corkscrewing all over the place as if they were bottle rockets.
Sharapova demolished Li, 6-3, 6-0. She committed no double faults but had only five winners—compared to seven by Li (by the way, I am going by the official, detailed statistical abstract, not off the television screen stats—the two can differ significantly). That last stat ought to pop up like a red flag, for if Sharapova is averaging just 2.5 winners per set, she must be doing something very right—even if her opponent is making unforced errors at better than a two-to-one clip (in this match, 33 by Li to 14 by Sharapova).
That something lately has been Sharapova’s increasing consistency and prowess at the baseline. For most of her career, Sharapova seemed either willing or obliged to pay the cost of her powerful groundstrokes in the currency of unforced errors. It had to be that way, given her relative lack of fluidity and certain ingrained technical shortcomings. But today, and for quite some time in this now 17-3 year, Sharapova has been playing at a higher level at the baseline than perhaps ever before—occasional lapses nonwithstanding.
In fact, those lapses are unusually glaring, given her accomplishments and status, and they keep current the theory that if you can just hang in there for three or four exchanges with Sharapova, you’re in with a chance. As Li learned, that has never been less true than today.
Sharapova commented on this in her entertaining post-match presser: “I mean, my game is obviously the way it is by being aggressive and going for my shots, but also, you know, making sure that if it takes three or four or five, six balls, you know, for the opponent to make a mistake, then that's what it takes. So it's having, you know, that consistency and also the will to be out there for as long as it takes.”
Fair enough, but the will is one thing, execution is another. And Sharapova’s technique and rhythm have been terrific lately. Although she has three Grand Slam titles, she hasn't earned one since the Australian Open at the beginning of 2008. Yet she may be playing better than ever before—at least on those days when her serve behaves.
“It's really tough to compare different times in your career. You know, I have been through a lot since my last Grand Slam win. I was out of the game for a while (with a serious shoulder injury that has complicated her serving adventures), so I do look at the sport, and playing, a lot differently than I did when I was, you know, 21 or so years old.
"I wish I could say, This is better; this is worse. But at the end of the day, all you're trying to do is get better. You know, get better from your last match and try to improve.”
Sharapova’s continuing fidelity to the game is touching, especially in light of her general celebrity and growing status as a “brand.” But she’s still more comfortable on a blue hard court than the red carpet. There is nothing more mortifying than the red carpet,” she said, sounding like she really meant it. “Really. It's only about like a minute experience, but it's really terrifying and it's. . . I don't want to say "fake," but it's a very. . . it's one big illusion, to be honest.
“The things you see on a red carpet—everything is perfect, the image of a person there dressed beautifully with hair and makeup and wonderful styling. . . But I come home an hour later and I take everything off, and, you know, ‘where did all that glamour go?’
‘So, I mean, I love what I do. I love playing tennis, and I know that thing that ultimately wins me matches is the hard work I put on the court.”
Unlike those scant minutes she puts in on the red carpets, the hours Sharapova spends on the practice and stadium courts have a more enduring and valuable payoff. I don’t think she returned to her hotel after winning today to ponder where anything—except maybe those double faults—went.