The Hindu : Sport : Sharapova brushes aside Petrova

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Wednesday, Jun 29, 2005

Sport

Sport

Sharapova brushes aside Petrova

Nirmal Shekar

— Photo: AP

FRENCH DELIGHT: France's Amelie Mauresmo moved into the singles semifinals with a straight sets win over Anastasia Myskina of Russia on Tuesday.

London: She has it all; yet she plays like someone who believes that she'd be on dole if she failed to win the day's match. Seldom in sport do we see someone so blessed compete with such primodial hunger.

And, not since Chris Evert in the early 1970s has Wimbledon seen an angelic assassin quite like Maria Sharapova.

The gold standard of female athleticism of the age in popular fantasy, the Russian teenager has been celebrated for many things — and has become the highest earning sportswoman in the planet — since winning here last year.

But the one sporting virtue without which all her other assets — including her striking good looks — would mean nothing, her sheer bloody-mindedness as a competitor, rarely gets mentioned.

But, when push comes to shove, it is very much in evidence on the court — as, indeed, it was on Tuesday in the women's singles quarterfinals of the Wimbledon championships as Sharapova, tested that little bit by her countrywoman Nadia Petrova, promptly bared her teeth and made a meal of her opponent, winning 7-6(6), 6-3 in an hour and 26 minutes.

There are better shotmakers than Sharapova in women's tennis today. There are better athletes than the young Russian. There are the ones that serve better than the defending champion. But, few, if any, may want it as much as the Siberian stunner does.

In sport, divas come in many different hues. If Anna Kournikova was one extreme example of a distracted showgirl who predictably lost her way in the sporting world — which is not to say that her banker is complaining — then Sharapova occupies the opposite end, one-pointed in her focus and pursuing her goals with an evangelical zeal.

Tunnel vision

How tough it is to maintain that sort of tunnel-vision in the world Sharapova inhabits is something that can hardly be exaggerated.

"The museum here is keen to get one of your outfits, including your trainers from this year. Would you be prepared to donate them?''

That was the first question at the press conference after a match in which the champion had been forced to play a tiebreak for the first time this fortnight, after having conceded just 17 games in four matches.

Sharapova smiled, then giggled, and finally said, "Yeah, I have a lot of dresses. I don't think it will be a problem. The shoes... I have to take the gold away. To be in that museum is a big achievement.''

What about sitting and answering such questions as a defending women's champion, at age 18? Can there be a bigger achievement?

Well, that's to do with tennis, right? Who cares? Let's get to something more interesting.

"Andy Murray (the British player who created a sensation in the first week) was saying yesterday that as he came off (the court) he had a marriage proposal. Have you ever had that experience yourself?''

Again the winsome gaze, and the giggle. "God, there are so many answers to tell you guys. I mean, there are lots of signs. Not many here. `Will you marry me Maria?', it's like `Will you jump off a bridge.'''

Looking back, it was easier to negotiate Petrova's chip-and-charge tactics late in the first set. Easier, too, to find some help from the netcord — surely to be counted among her millions of fans from this day — at 6-6 in the tiebreak.

Tricky corners

But, no, these tricky corners will have to be turned with tremendous poise and self-assurance in the press conference. And, for someone so young, Sharapova seems keenly aware of the more quotidian dramas of life on the itinerant tennis circus.

So, Ms. Golden Girl stared at the questioner, slightly flustered, when he persisted with this: "So, are you disappointed with the reserve the British men are showing?'' What he meant, of course, was this: Was it disappointing not to receive any marriage proposals from fans at Wimbledon.

That's when the official accompanying the champion, the moderator, thought it fit to intervene. "Do we have a tennis question, please.'' On the other hand, perhaps `tennis questions' are not questions that appeal to quite a number of the so-called tennis fans.

Then again, this much is sure: winning tennis matches and titles are the only things that matter to Sharapova. She is not going to lose sleep over the sales figures of her brand of perfume, although, given her popularity, the brand is unlikely to disappear from store-shelves.

Meanwhile, in the match itself, Petrova fought well in the first set. She staved off a breakpoint to hold to 5-4 and then came back from 4-6 down in the tiebreak, levelling with an ace down the middle.

But two forehand winners off the tape saw the champion take the set. She was untroubled in the second.

"I think the main thing is to be mentally tough. It is going to be a big battle,''said Sharapova, looking forward to Thursday's semifinal against the former champion Venus Williams, who overcame Mary Pierce's second set challenge for a 6-0, 7-6(10) victory.

Since sister Serena's unexpected early departure, Venus has been playing a brand of tennis here that has eluded her in recent past. Pierce did threaten a bit in the second set but the two-time champion showed tremendous composure late in the second set to close out the match.

The other semifinal will be contested by Amelie Mauresmo of France, the most gifted player not to have won a Grand Slam singles title, and Lindsay Davenport, the top seeded American.

Mauresmo, whose game appears tailor made for grass, beat Anastasia Myskina of Russia 6-3, 6-4 before Davenport prevailed over another Russian, Svetlana Kuznetsova, 7-6(1), 6-3.

Leander Paes and Nenad Zimonjic, seeded five, raced past Karol Beck and Jaroslav Levinsky 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 to make the quarterfinals of the men's doubles event. They will take on Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett of Zimbabwe.

Indian boys lose

In the boys singles event, India's Sanam K.Singh and Vivek Shokeen lost in the second round to Dutch players. Singh was outplayed 6-2, 6-3 by Antal van der Duim while Shokeen was beaten 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 by Thiemo De Bakker.

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