Posted on 09/10/2006 1:32:15 AM PDT by beyond the sea
NEW YORK - Maria Sharapova began the U.S. Open with as much buzz about her sponsorships as her strokes, as much talk about her getups as her game.
She's long insisted she's more about substance than style, though, and now she owns a second Grand Slam title to prove it.
Better on the biggest points all night, the third-seeded Sharapova beat No. 2 Justine Henin-Hardenne 6-4, 6-4 in the U.S. Open final Saturday to add a follow-up championship to her breakthrough title at Wimbledon in 2004.
"I experienced it two years ago, and I knew that I wasn't done," Sharapova said. "I had a lot more in me."
What Sharapova had on this night was a lot more force on nearly every shot, from groundstrokes to serves to returns. She faced only one break point all match, broke Henin-Hardenne three times, and compiled a 20-15 edge in winners.
"She's been a real fighter tonight," said Henin-Hardenne, who would have moved up to No. 1 with a victory. "The better player won tonight."
Quite a concession from the Belgian, who leads the tour this season in matches won (54), Grand Slam matches won (25) and tournament titles (five). She was the first woman since Martina Hingis in 1997 to reach a year's four major finals.
"She didn't give me a lot of opportunities," Henin-Hardenne said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I have to turn the sound off when she's playing. Her loud squeal/grunt on every shot gets on my nerves.
That comment is just plain foolish.
Once (btw) is enough.
If you played tennis (well), by the way, you would know differently. The only thing a player receiving serve (not expecting a serve like that) could do with it would be to rush forward and try to return it by lifting it over the net.
Get real ................ or go to a badminton thread.
btw.... badminton is a great game too.
;-)
And then came her at-times petulant postmatch news conference, which Sharapova began by saying, "Let's make this a positive session tonight, please. Por favor." She got into a bit of a testy exchange with reporters who asked about the apparent signals sent by Yuri and Joyce about when to eat bananas or sip drinks at changeovers (coaching isn't allowed).
All of which led to a sentence that it's fair to say had never been uttered by a Grand Slam champion. Or anyone else, for that matter.
"I believe, at the end of the day, personally, my life is not about a banana," Sharapova said.
"It's not about what I wear. It's not about the friends that I have. My career right now is about winning a tennis match. And right now, I'm sitting here as a U.S. Open champion, and the last thing I think people need to worry about is a banana."
The more I see of these beautiful Russian as well as Polish women , I wonder why the Nazis hated them . I mean they are more aryan looking. than many Germans.
I used to do it in some tournaments around PA with some damn good players. They hated it. We all got a lot of laughs out of it later over some suds.
;-)
Well, I'm pretty sure she isn't moaning.
Heck.... Tiger hates it when a cellphone goes off!
;-)
ha ha..ok. If you say so.
----- Just don't let Clinton see her eating a banana. By the way... there is a great picture of Maria eating a banana..... I'll try to find it.
No ........ REALLY.... think about it. There really is NOTHING that can be done about a soft "serve" underhanded. It loops over the net and hardly bounces up. Trust me....... it is effective. I just wonder if it's against the rules now.
ROFL!
I'm with you and I agree as to the effectiveness. I'd just like to see it one time against a real pro.
We used to play against a girl that would hit what we called the "puff serve". It would just barely clear the net and was impossible to return. You couldn't tell from her motion when she was gonna use it so it drove us crazy. If you hunched up she'd hit one hard (for her) and it was just hard enough to give you trouble.
Come to think of it, I down know if I ever won a match.
LOL..................... this is a great subject!!!!!
He was a good guy, we were highschool swimming teammates, and we used to be relatively similar in tennis ability. Every once in a while I'd drop one of those little under-handed serves over the net (usually when he was showing some wear and tear), and it used to send him into a rage.
LOL.
It got to be that he'd never invite me out to the club unless I promised not to use that serve again.
;-)
btw.... badminton is a great game too.
Many years ago, I played a sport called "Arial Tennis" or "Arial Darts." Sort of like badmiton, but instead of rackets, we used wooden paddles, the courts were larger, and the bird had a heavy, hard rubber "head" which mean that it could MOVE!
Wow... I think that it's probably been at least 25 years since I last played that game...
Mark
Don't want to come off as gratuitous criticism but she really needs some assistance with her fashion choices. Very poor taste in clothes.
Post more pictures.
Now that is what I call athletic achievement.
Now that is what I call athletic achievement.
Hingis used it once in a match (maybe against one of the Williams sisters and in a fit or pique) and was roundly boo'd.
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