It never hurts to pray.
Posted on 09/18/2006 5:13:29 AM PDT by beyond the sea
It was a sensational victory for Maria Sharapova, gifted with beauty and talent, in the recently concluded U.S. Open tennis championship.
It’s amazing how the 19-year-old tennis star demolished the defending champion and world #1 woman player Amelie Mauresmo with a lopsided 6-0, 4-6, 6-0 score.
Was Amelie distracted by her opponent’s beauty or was her focus not on the ball but on something else?
* * *
What’s inspiring with Sharapova is that even at the crest of success, she hasn’t forgotten to recognize the role of God in her life. Listen to her "homily" about succeeding enunciated days before the US Open.
"What tennis has brought me has been incredible. God gave me a talent, but it was up to me to play my part in it.
"I don’t believe in just Godgiven talent, you have to work for everything you earn and I think the combination has helped me."
* * *
Briefly, Sharapova is saying that God blesses us with talents but it’s up to us to do our counterpart in order to succeed. That "counterpart" means concretely a lot of sacrifice, long and dreary hours of practice, self-discipline and perseverance. Remember the dictum: "What you are is God’s gift to you; what you become is your gift to God."
Sharapova’s religious principle is something we all can learn from, not only in sports but in all human endeavors – academics, business, positions of leadership.
Maybe God will hear our prayers and stifle her screams during play......:^)
Was Amelie distracted by her opponent’s beauty
LOL..... yes, that would be great!
As I was telling another FReeper the other day....... the tennis establishment ought to put their foot down, give ALL players a year to get rid of that annoying crap, or leave the game.
LOL.
I really do wonder how Amelia felt at the net with the lovely Maria as they 'faux kissed' as tennis etiquette suggests.
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Net Games:
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/060908/483/xnyf19709082216
http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20060908/i/r1922433302.jpg?x=285&y=345&sig=2wzgsoCJ3HWezj_bA6V6iQ--
Maria plays with a little pebble in her left shoe...... ouch!
;-)
ping.......... please tell Hillary never to show this to Bill.
Amelie just wrote a book on tennis, it's called "How to Lick Your Opponent."
:-)
LOL .... when I went by the Armadillo Junction on Highway 6, about ten miles east of the Texas ...... I thought about the same thing:
'Munchin' at the Junction'
;-)
She acts very American, having lived here since she was young, but her beauty and features, especially her eyes, are very Russian. I love the Russian eyes.
Maria is a dear. I hope she keeps a steady level in the future. She could be a great example to all girls and women. She has worked hard at her game. May I say as a guy who knows tennis pretty well......... she really has worked quite a lot with her game.
She is not the most graceful player. She's had to work on it, especially since she grew two or three inches the past year or so.
Here's wishing that she keeps calm and centered and has a meaningful life in the future.
I agree with your analysis of her tennis (and her eyes). ;)
Maria doesn't have the grace or the repertoire or the court sense or the natural ability of a Federer, say. (But who does?) She isn't the best moving forward, i.e., approaching the net, etc.
But she's good moving laterally and she has power--her height gives her reach and leverage.
Most of all, she has determination, an offensive mindset, precision and guts: She will not hesitate to go for the offensive shot and corners in a big point.
It is the last item that, IMO, separates the top-10 from so many of equal or even greater ability on the pro circuit.
As for your comment about a centered life, I question the judgment of her handlers--(her father?)--witness the "I feel pretty" ad; catchy and clever work better with a tad less conceit.
Mia, Mia, Mia! I didn't know, along with your artistic and literary genius with the Clintons, that you knew tennis too! Darn, I want to marry you. This is too great!
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I agree with your post. I did not like the "I feel pretty" ad either. It was just wrong and made her come off as a girl with a big head. They should not have done it.
By the way, she is NOT a girl with a big head at all!
She is the "geek" among her close friends, and they make fun of her because she is an avid stamp collector and loves to read all the time.
She is one of a kind!
*****
From about a year ago: ---
She said the other day while walking down Beverly Hills' swank Rodeo drive, she felt completely out of place. "That's not where I come from," she said. "I know I'm popular and I know people recognize me, but I don't relate to that lifestyle. "I walk around there and shop, but I don't feel like this is me. That's not where I come from."
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I love the following!
"On the court she reminded me of the margay, a small wild cat, like a miniature leopard, that lives in the jungles of Central America. Her emerald-green eyes had the look of a creature who you knew would never quite belong to anyone but herself. She was still only “peanut-sized”, as her father, Yuri, called her, with long, skinny legs and arms, corn-blonde hair, braces on her teeth and a dusting of freckles on her nose. But when she went to strike the ball, her little cat-face would bunch into a snarl, her body would coil itself like a spring behind her racket, she would hurl herself at the ball and, with an ear-splitting banshee scream that sent shivers down your spine, unleash a laser-guided ground stroke." - Simon Worrall
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No girl in the history of tennis had hit a tennis ball as hard as Maria Sharapova. As Bollettieri, who has masterminded the careers of plenty of hard-hitters, including Monica Seles and Mary Pierce, eloquently put it: “She beats the f****** crap out of the ball.”
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"A lot of people are saying I am pretty, I have a good figure and all that," she said. "I know a lot of fans also like me because of my looks. But my target is to make a mark in the world of tennis as a great player."
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JUST ONE GOOD GIRL!
And again, Mia, it's great to know that you are into tennis and Maria.
wow
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http://sport.guardian.co.uk/wimbledon2006/story/0,,1809508,00.html
Supercool Sharapova is outed as a closet 'dork'
Eleanor Preston ---- Friday June 30, 2006
(snip) --It is perhaps surprising to hear that Maria Sharapova has more than a passing interest in philately, because somehow the thought of her being a stamp collector in her spare time seems at odds with her image as tennis's supercool fashionista.
After brushing aside Ashley Harkleroad 6-2, 6-2 to earn a place in the third round yesterday, Sharapova was faced with a series of probing questions on her hobby and for a second she almost seemed flustered.
"Oh, God, stop. Everyone's calling me a dork now," she said, before revealing, semi-seriously, that her agent had banned her from talking about it for fear that her sponsors might start frantically searching for geekiness clauses in her endorsement contracts.
"We're getting emails from, like, stamp collecting magazines asking if I can do an interview. I mean, it's just a hobby," said Sharapova. "I'm actually good at telling stories but that is one I should have never talked about.
Oh, my goodness. Let's get off this subject, because I'm going to be an absolute geek tomorrow." It is somehow reassuring to think that Sharapova has a nerdy side that she is anxious to conceal. Being outed as a stamp collector was about the only time she showed any sign of vulnerability yesterday.
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LOL........... I really like this young lady.
I sense she's a bit uneasy trading on her looks. Would much rather rely solely on her tennis. But she's torn. She's driven to succeed and she knows her looks are part of the product. Interestingly, neither attribute is very durable. Joints fail and beauty fades.
A marc Jacobs fashion show?
Maria as designer:
IMO, Maria scored a double fault with her Audrey Hepburn inspiration.
1-The sleek, sparkling black design was incongruous with tennis; looked more 'In a Mirror, Darkly' (Star Trek) than Holly Golightly. ;)
2-Was not flattering. The neckline emphasized her broad shoulders. She looks much better in her usual, less structured Nike garb.
Make that 'rigid'... and add 'fluid.'
A marc Jacobs fashion show?
Maria as designer:
IMO, Maria scored a double fault with her Audrey Hepburn inspiration.
1-The rigid, sparkling black design was incongruous with tennis; looked more 'In a Mirror, Darkly' (Star Trek) than Holly Golightly. ;)
2-Was not flattering. The neckline emphasized her broad shoulders. She looks so much better in her usual less structured, fluid Nike garb.
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