The Hindu : Sport : The glint is back in Sharapova’s eyes

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The glint is back in Sharapova’s eyes

Nirmal Shekar

Roddick, Mauresmo crash out; Simon makes Nadal work hard for a win

Melbourne: She is the nowhere woman. If Maria Sharapova were to be slightly confused about her place in women’s tennis, then that is understandable. On the one hand, there are the acknowledged serial Grand Slam champions — Serena Williams (8 majors), Justine Henin (7) and Venus Williams (6). On the other, there is the talented brat pack — led by Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic and Nicole Vaidisova — widely believed to have the skills and the chutzpah to take the seniors’ place sooner than later.

Where does that leave Sharapova, especially after an injury-plagued 2007 marked by vulnerability rather than invincibility at the Grand Slam tournaments? The statuesque blonde who won her first major title on the Wimbledon lawns in 2004 waited more than two years to add another, at the U.S. Open in 2006. Since then, the pickings have been rather meagre.

But, in the Australian Open championship here this week, there is an unmistakable glint in the 20-year old Russian’s eyes that bespeaks renewed hunger and tunnel-visioned focus of the sort that she would need to reassert herself as a major league champion and world beater.

If the former world No.1, now world ranked No.5, brought her A game to the court against another former world No.1, Lindsay Davenport, the other night, then Sharapova was surely not going to make the mistake of taking a lightweight opponent lightly on Friday.

Playing her countrywoman Elena Vesnina, Sharapova took about half an hour to settle down. Once she did come through the tough early phase, the most marketable woman athlete in the world dominated the exchanges against a player ranked 50 places below her to win the third round match 6-3, 6-0.

When Vesnina gave as good as she got till midway in the first set, the grouchy testiness that can be detected in Sharapova when she is pushed to the wall was very much in evidence. Her forehand was in a rebellious mood and she was not moving as well as she might have wanted to.

Much like Sharapova, the American sixth seed Andy Roddick doesn’t know where he belongs. Is he a major contender? Is he a one shot wonder?

In an epic third round match that lasted seven minutes short of four hours, Roddick, who last won a slam at the US Open in 2003, ran out of ideas against the German foot-soldier Philipp Kohlschreiber to go down 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(9), 6-7(3), 8-6.

“The whole game for me was perfect today,” the German said. “I just went for full power on every shot at the end and it worked out perfectly. I enjoyed every second of it and both of us was doing our best to come out on top.”

Humiliation

Last year, Sharapova was the top seed in this event and she was humiliated in the final by Serena Williams, who came into the championship world ranked No.81 after having played just four tournaments in 2006. Things got worse the rest of the way in the majors for Sharapova as she lost in the fourth round at Wimbledon and departed after three rounds at the U.S. Open, her ambitions cut short by a series of injuries.

But, from what we have seen of the world’s most Googled woman athlete in her three matches here this week, Sharapova may at last be ready to turn things around and mount another charge to the summit.

Vesnina is hardly the opponent you’d want to measure Sharapova’s form and fitness against; yet, the fact is, Sharapova may be a bigger threat to the Williamses and Henin than the Serbs Ivanovic and Jankovic.

But the draw has not been kind to Sharapova. Next up is Elena Dementieva, then, if all goes well, Henin in the quarterfinals. Should she care to look beyond the world champion, then Sharapova will probably consider the possibility of coming face to face with Serena in the semifinals.

Work is worship

Later in the afternoon, Rafael Nadal, the men’s No.2 seed, found himself having to do quite a lot to put the Frenchman Gilles Simon in his place. Bravely punching much above his weight, Simon dominated the three-time French Open champion for the first seven games of the first set, opening up a 5-2 lead. The next eight games showed everyone present — and the millions watching on television — precisely why Nadal is such a tenacious competitor.

With Simon living out a schoolboy’s dream and concocting an array of winners on both flanks, Nadal got ready for trench warfare and slowly but surely broke his opponent’s will first, and his game next.

In a remarkable exhibition of the art of turning high-intensity defence into offence, Nadal fought off six setpoints on the way to winning nine straight games from 2-5 down in the first to 3-0 in the second. Nadal went through to the fourth round with a 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 win. If the Simple Simons don’t know their place in the pecking order, then the Nadals of this world do know what to do. Goodbye Simon.

Big stage

Sania Mirza has been offered the big stage — the Rod Laver arena — for her third round match against Venus Williams. It will be the opening match of the night session on Saturday.

In the mixed doubles competition, Leander Paes and his Hungarian partner Agnes Szavay beat the Czech pair Renata Voracova and David Skoch 2-6, 6-2, 10-6 in the first round.

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