Maria Sharapova was in a slightly hurty mood as she left the Australian Open, after being bounced in the semifinals by Justine Henin-Hardenne. There was a hint of the late Richard Nixon’s “You won’t have me to kick around anymore!” lament in her closing comments.
In her presser, Sharapova was asked to talk about her “disappointment” and her “feelings” about that. She replied:
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Talk about the disappointment? Yeah, it’s disappointing. Look, guys, I think, I mean, I know you are reporters and I know this is your job, but you know, take your notepads, take your pencils down, take your grunt-o-meters down, the fashion police, put everything away and just watch the match, you know, from just the fans’ perspective. I seriously think that the quality of the match today was great.
- Upon hearing those words, I leapt to me feet and cried out, “Fashion police? Moi?”
Just kidding.
Honestly, though, I think Maria makes a good point. Ignore for a moment how downright insensitive it is to ask someone to describe her feelings of disappointment. That question doesn't deserve the dignity of an answer. What did this reporter want Sharapova to do, cut her wrist and bleed in front of her? But the question gets asked that way, all the time.
Actually, Sharapova had nothing to feel bitter about. She acquitted herself very well today, which was especially welcome given the train wreck of a match that she and Nadia Petrova cooked up the other day.
Getting back to Sharapova's comment. OK, we've had as much fun at Sharapova's expense as anyone these past few days. One of the major roles of TennisWorld is to torture players and hold their feet to the fire for either or both of these reasons: because nobody else does it, and because . . . because we can.
Now, though, I feel obliged to stick up for Maria. There are a lot of Sharapova haters out there—it has something to do with all the natural advantages and gifts she's received. But this was a day on which Maria walked the walk and deserved our sympathy, because one of the gifts she did not get was real genius.
There is no greater compliment a player can pay to the fans, or the sport itself, than to work tirelessly to maximize her potential, and to give her absolute best when she steps on court. And I'm amazed at how often people forget that.
In fact, you could argue that those aren’t just the two most important things we can ask of a player, they may be the only two things we have a legitimate right to ask. At some level, all the rest, from delivering soulful, introspective monologues on performance to being nice to the ball kids, is extraneous—nice if it’s there, but not germane.
Sharapova delivers on both counts (so does Henin-Hardenne, for that matter), and for that she deserves our respect and admiration. At times during the match today, I felt badly for her—she was giving it her all, heart and soul, and coming up short—taking blows that aren’t easy to absorb, from a player who's considered more gifted. You could see how much she wanted it, how hard she was chasing the grail of excellence.
Technically, the big difference in the match was a decision Henin-Hardenne made, late in the first set, to play closer to the baseline, or inside the court. As she explained:
As tennis geekery goes, that’s good stuff. Players who play on the baseline are much better positioned to take the ball on the rise, and to control a rally. They also force a faster pace on the game. When their opponents are not especially nimble, or deft of touch, the effect can be devastating. Eventually, the best of the less-mobile players figure out that the only real protection against a player who takes the ball on the rise and plays from inside the baseline is to become one. That’s what Monica Seles and Mary Pierce had figured out, right?
But it wasn’t as if Henin-Hardenne changed tactics and—poof—demolished Sharapova. The 6-4 third set produced fine tennis, really high-quality tennis. Henin-Hardenne was very much in her comfort zone and Sharapova was inspired to expand her own by the quality of the match. As Henin-Hardenne said, “I run like probably I never ran in the past on the tennis court.”
That was what it took to beat Sharapova today; it will take a lot be beat Henin-Hardenne tomorrow. Goodbye Maria, you done good.
Now here’s a hundred bucks, go get yourself a nice dress.