Miami 2014 Semis: Williams vs. Sharapova

[Front242]

Front

If you are still around.I don't know if you remember Dinara Safina's ball toss at all?
That's another one you can add to your list

^ Good call, I actually couldn't remember it but just watched a clip and you're dead right. Very high toss. Sad what happened to her. Only a few days ago actually I was checking for news because they said her back was ok now and she asked for wild cards to events in 2012 but refused them in the end. Wiki says retired but then contradicts itself saying she never officially retired and it was only her brother Marat Safin claiming that. Still, pretty safe to say she's gone for good now.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Front

If you are still around.I don't know if you remember Dinara Safina's ball toss at all?
That's another one you can add to your list

^ Good call, I actually couldn't remember it but just watched a clip and you're dead right. Very high toss. Sad what happened to her. Only a few days ago actually I was checking for news because they said her back was ok now and she asked for wild cards to events in 2012 but refused them in the end. Wiki says retired but then contradicts itself saying she never officially retired and it was only her brother Marat Safin claiming that. Still, pretty safe to say she's gone for good now.

I was suprised she even asked for w/cards in 2013.Considering she had 2 shattering disc's in her back,even though she said her back was okay.I agree she is gone,I wish her well.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

I meant to say w.cards in 2012...sorry typo error from me

 

[Front242]

Yup, can't see her coming back now. Sad to have a career ended so young.

 

[Front242]

This interview is good but reading this it's pretty clear she'll never return.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/tennis/story/2012-08-30/us-open-dinara-safina-talks-about-life-off-tour/57422122/1

 

[jhar26]

It went pretty much as I had expected. If anything Maria actually did a bit better than I had expected. I think that overall she's on the right track. Miami was a lot better for her than Indian Wells and in Miami she seemed to improve a bit with each match. Same for Serena really. The claycourt swing could be interesting with Serena, Maria, Simona and Li as the main protagonists.

 

[Moxie]

^Call me naive, but at certain points in both sets I thought Maria might finally take one off of Serena, but it still ended in straights.

As to Safina, just to derail the thread for another moment: funnily enough, I was just thinking about her the other day, and did see she'd hired a coach a while back to see about a comeback. I guess the back is too bad. She's only Rafa's age, too. That's a shame. Some players have really bad luck with career-ending injuries or illnesses.

 

[pavlik89]

[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkOfSTdpFgo[/video]

 

[pavlik89]

[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZemYtPPS2Q[/video]

 

[rugged]

Just so that people do not think the two rivalries mentioned are the same,
I do want to point some facts. Fed has a 10-23 record against. That means he
has won 43% of his matches against Rafa.

On the otherhand, Pova has a 2-15 record against Serena which works out
to 13%. I would tend to think that there is a ocean of difference between
13% and 43%.

Finally, one surface played a major role in the R-R rivalry. On the otherhand
the S-S non-rivalry is independent of surfaces. I am glad you bother to put
the "rivalry" in quotes.

Granted, Fed has won more matches than Maria, the point was/is, one player has a distinct mental advantage, this has led both "rivalries" being lopsided. For example, Federer doesn't even lead Nadal on fast surfaces anymore, so much for that one surface theory.

I'm glad you're putting the word "rivalry" in quotation marks, because this is a "rivalry" only in the minds of certain Sharapova fans, as well as sports commentators, who are trying to make it interesting.

And I completely agree about the mental factor being a huge part of it, like Federer and Nadal. One player is totally in the head of the other, preventing any substantive changes.

I actually like the way Pete Bodo frames it. He calls it the biggest non-rivalry there is. I think that captures it well.

Yes, but to be fair - Bodo is someone with an intense dislike for certain players and he doesn't let an opportunity go by without having a go at them, and Sharapova is one of his favorite targets. Besides - he's a blogger and the only way for a blogger to get attention is by being negative and controversial.

Having said that - he's of course right about this match-up, but it doesn't take Pete Bodo to figure that one out.

Yes, having said all that he is right. And it doesn't take Pete to figure it out, but he did and he said it.

 

[jhar26]

^Call me naive, but at certain points in both sets I thought Maria might finally take one off of Serena, but it still ended in straights.

Maria's problem in this match-up is that her main strenght - the ability to create pace with precision doesn't bother Serena. Serena LIKES Maria's pace and uses it to her advantage whereas it overwhelms others. Both are great hitters of the ball, but Serena defends better because she moves better which is why she wins the majority of rallys where they try to outhit each other. And Maria has to constantly play at her absolutely peak - eyeballs out tennis to stay with Serena whereas Serena comfortably plays within herself. It's a bit like when you see those 100m races with Usain Bolt in slow motion. You see the effort on the faces of those other runners. They give it everything they got. Meanwhile Bolt is completely relaxed and he almost appears to be just jogging....but he's still half a second faster than any of them. Maria Sharapova is a great player and while Serena is even better, on the basis of her career, her effort level and her contribution to the game she really doesn't derserve to lose 15 matches in a row to anyone. But to beat Serena Maria has to constantly play the point of her life over and over again in game after game. It's hard to be that intense for two hours or more, which is what would be necessary for her to beat Serena. Even so, I still think that one day Maria will win one. Serena won't retire anytime soon and while she'll be a top player as long as she's around, it's also inevitable that she'll have more days when she's off as she gets older. If she meets Maria on one of those days and Maria is on it can happen.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

One more thing that people should keep in mind is that in the R-R rivalry, the losing
person is about five years older.

On the contrary, in the S-S "rivalry", the losing person is above five years younger.

 

[jhar26]

One more thing that people should keep in mind is that in the R-R rivalry, the losing
person is about five years older.

On the contrary, in the S-S "rivalry", the losing person is above five years younger.

As they say in boxing, "styles make fights." Frazier beats Ali once and fights him very close two times. But Foreman has no problems with Frazier at all and uses him as a basketball for two rounds. But Ali beats Foreman, the guy who easily beats the guy that Ali has so much problems with. All results of the fact that some styles perfectly suit a fighter while another style doesn't suit him at all, no matter how great he may be. It's the same in the match-ups of Serena vs Maria and Roger vs Rafa.

 

[Calvy]

One more thing that people should keep in mind is that in the R-R rivalry, the losing
person is about five years older.

On the contrary, in the S-S "rivalry", the losing person is above five years younger.

Okay....

But, the seeds of doubt were implant when both players on the losing end of the respective "rivalries" were very much in their prime.

 

[Front242]

^ That's true but it's harder still as you get older, although with Serena and many WTA players like Li that isn't the case. In fact I think the facts will easily show the older players on the WTA are more dominant than the older ones in ATP over the years. On any given day, Date-Krumm can even beat players less than half her age.

 

[RJD11]

 

[kskate2]

^^ Awful RJD. Just awful...:laydownlaughing

 

[RJD11]

^^ Awful RJD. Just awful...:laydownlaughing

Sorry Kskate: When I saw the post I new it was wrong

and shouldn't post it. I just didn't have the ability to resist.

 

[special700]

LOL -RJD that was so wrong....can't stop laughing.

 

[rugged]

LOL. Funny. I now have an image of Maria driving up to Serena's home with Dimitrov. He turns to her and says: "who lives here." Maria says, we will talk about it later, I will be right back. She grabs a box from the back seat and knocks on the door of the house. Serena answers and Maria shoves the box at her. Serena says what is this? with an evil grin on her face. Maria says: "you know what it is." Serena Opens the box and says: "Oh my, it is the Venus Rosewater dish awarded at Wimby. It is the one from 2004" Then Maria ask:"now can the beatings stop." Serena says: "let a sister sleep on it."