Posted on 06/09/2012 5:43:27 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
PARIS — Ever since shoulder surgery nearly forced Maria Sharapova into early retirement, she occupied an odd space in both tennis and the wider world of sports. She remained among the most marketable female athletes on the planet, a superstar in every sense except the most important one.
The gap between her game and her fame closed considerably Saturday, by virtue of a one-sided victory that left her knees down and crying on the red clay at Roland Garros, then bounding into the stands, where the Russian hugged her entourage and kissed not one but two babies.
After Sharapova dismantled Sara Errani of Italy 6-3, 6-2, she held aloft the silver French Open championship trophy, for her the most elusive of the four major championships. This triumph gave Sharapova a career Grand Slam.
Sharapova earned her first major title in 2004 at Wimbledon at age 17, then the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008.
Everything that happened afterward — the shoulder surgery, the reconstructed service motion, the comeback that shocked many in the tennis world — was as difficult as it was unexpected.
Sharapova didn't play singles from August 2008 until May 2009, when her ranking fell to 126th in the world.
"It wasn't getting better as soon as everyone thought it would," she said of her shoulder. "That was the frustrating thing, because it was like, 'When is this going to end?' "
Sharapova guaranteed herself the No. 1 ranking in the world this week by reaching the final; the last time she occupied the No. 1 spot in the WTA rankings was June 2008.
Sharapova, the 10th woman with a career Grand Slam, once said she resembled a "cow on ice" when playing on clay. She is 16-0 on the surface this season.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
that’s what I’m counting on....
I like Maria, but that celebration was pure Hollywood. She was not pushed at all in the match and the result was never in doubt. The match was so one sided it was boring.
The “celebration” was probably ordered by the marketing dept at Nike.
Also, Anna did win several grand slam doubles titles but no grand slam singles.
No worries
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