Wozniacki Outplays Sharapova to Advance
Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark celebrates her victory against Maria Sharapova of Russia at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, September 6, 2010. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT TENNIS)
Wozniacki Outplays Sharapova to Advance
by Parsa Samii, GEM Tennis (parsa@gemtennis.com)
New York, US Open — Number 1 seed Caroline Wozniacki defeated Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-4 in a battle of contrasting styles. Wozniacki was content to allow Sharapova to stay aggressive and pound balls from corner to corner. Some people in the media hail this victory by Wozniacki as a career changer, I don’t see it. She needed a one dimensional Sharapova to make mistakes to win the match. If she runs into a Clijsters, Henin, or Serena Williams she’ll be tested. Lucky for her 2 of the 3 players I mentioned aren’t in the tournament. Is she the favorite to win the 2010 US Open? Clearly, yes, but for me its by default.
On the other side of the net Sharapova showed improvement over last year’s form for sure, however her inability to have a plan ‘B’ really hurts her in a match against a high quality counter puncher. At some points of the match, Sharapova attempted to play more angles to get her opponent off the court, but she wasn’t able to consistently execute. In my opinion, she’s hitting the ball extremely well, actually well enough to win another grand slam, but she needs another weapon to battle with. She hits great ground strokes, her competitive determination is world class, and her understanding of ‘her’ game is very strong, but the game has changed and she needs to find a way to modernize her game a little more. Playing the angles a little more or adding a ball that can change pace to avoid giving a rhythm to the opponent are things that could’ve made a difference today. I continue to be a huge Sharapova fan because of her strong will, I just would love to see her evolve a little more to give her a true shot at another slam. Sometimes you learn the most from difficult losses and for Sharapova there was a ton to learn from today’s match.
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I agree entirely. Sharapove seemd to run into a dead end with her game yesterday. She tried a few other shots – using short balls and angles and a few drops and made some confidence boosting shots, but she has no plan to build them into her game consistently, so under pressure she just resorts to her power game and hopes for the winner. It is interesting you said she needs to modernize because, like you, I don’t think counter-punching is the answer either. Players are tending to be grouped as either percentage players or shot makers, and I think the new winners are going to be those who have both in their game plan. Maybe Sharapove can become one of those’ I think she has the talent and the will if she can adjust. Maybe 2011!