by Savannah
Williams vs. Sharapova: Game, Set, Overmatched
By KAREN CROUSE
Published: March 28, 2007
New York Times
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla., March 27 — It was less a match than a memorandum
of what Serena Williams is capable of when she puts her mind behind
her might. Covering the court like a tarp, Williams suffocated
top-seeded Maria Sharapova in 58 bloodless minutes Tuesday in the
fourth round of the Sony Ericsson Open.
The final score was 6-1, 6-1, and from high above Crandon Park's
Stadium Court, it looked more lopsided. Before the first point was
tallied, Sharapova seemed to sense that she was in for a long
afternoon. She kept hitting serves after the chair umpire called,
"Time," indicating the end of warm-ups. Whatever she was searching
for, Sharapova did not find it, committing eight double faults.
On the other side of the court, the 13th-seeded Williams was hitting
on all cylinders. Her ground strokes were so well grooved, Sharapova
looked as if she was swatting at bugs. In the sixth game of the first
set, Sharapova hit a running forehand for a winner (one of eight she
had) and Williams was so surprised she reflexively applauded.
By the end of the afternoon, both No.1-seeded players were gone.
Guillermo Cañas, a qualifier, sent the defending champion, Roger
Federer, packing for the second consecutive tournament with a 7-6
(7-2), 2-6, 7-6 (7-5) victory. Cañas's win came 16 days after he
snapped Federer's 41-match winning streak in a second-round match at
the Masters Series event in Indian Wells, Calif. Federer, who had won
both tournaments the previous two years, committed 51 unforced errors
to Canas's 15.
Continue
Reading
There was a look on Serena's face during
her postmatch interview after her victory over Lucie Safarova. As a
black woman, I've seen the look many times. The first time I saw it
was as a child when my mother had had enough and the four of us knew
it was time to disappear. I've seen it as an adult when a woman, fed
up, calls the locksmith prior to disposing of his belongings and him.
It's a look of utter calm, of resolution. And it's something about the
way we hold our mouths.
Nouf, on WTA World has been
doing a great job of posting tennis videos. Her work can be found in
the Video Vault on that site, an invaluable source for women's tennis
on all levels. Here's a direct link to the video.
Video Link
And still, the match was a jaw dropping beatdown. Maria was reduced to
a spectator as her shots did nothing against the woman on the other
side of the net who was firing them past her like bullets. When Cliff
Drysdale uses the word beatdown to describe a match, no further
comment is necessary.
Richard Williams, when asked by Pam Shriver how it was to watch his
daughter play so well, mentioned that the fathers watch each other
too. Pam didn't have time to follow up on that statement but I hope
someone does. I don't know if Yuri hung around this time to support
his daughter. I hope he did. Whatever is going on with her right now
needs attention. Yuri has been with Maria during her rise. Someone
mentioned Maria's name in the same breath as Anna Kournikova when
describing her current struggles. I don't think Yuri and Maria
sacrificed so much to end up in that particular movie.
We tennis fans should just keep in mind the expression on Serena's
face during that interview. Venus wore it when she won Wimbledon in
2005. When you see it you know the hair has been braided, the vaseline
applied, and that someone is in for a beatdown.
