Sharapova's recent form

One look at Sharapova's games this year may tell any tennis-follower what a long way she has come after her disastrous performances in 2007. Since she sprung out to front pages and headlines after capturing most coveted Grandslam, the Wimbledon title, in 2004, she has constantly fluctuated in her accomplishments. The most talked about Russian after Kournikova, she defeated Williams sisters, threatened Henin at few occassions but failed to achieve continuous, impressive and convincing victories. By 2007 end, she was written out by mostly everyone, who felt that Miss Maria is concentrating more on her dressing styles on court rather than the selection of shots. And then, she came back. Oh and I forgot to mention what a way to come back. I was following Aus Open 2008 mostly online. I saw her progressing determinant round after rounds. I read rave reviews of her games...I thought, well, she always gets the attention. The draw revealed she has to face Henin in QF and boy, was I laughing. I was so sure of the outcomes that I did not care to watch the live scores either. And then, read the news. I had never felt so stupid over a game. First, I blamed the Belgian and full-heartedly at that. But 6-4, 6-0 is too emphatic a score to be ignored. I decided to watch her SF encounter with Jankovic and I did. I, then, realised the accuracy and incisiveness of Sharapova's performance and couldn't match it with any performance of any lady I have seen till now and that includes the likes of Graf, Seles, Hingis, Williams, Mauresmo, Capriati and the rest. One can seen few points being played with that precision but to play like that for whole match and then whole tournament is a herculean task.

Its good for the game coz she enrages Williams sisters and Henin. Her first defeat of 2008 came from compatriot Kuznetsova, who is such a under-explored player herself and we would like to see more of her always. There are new and cheery Serbs on the turf now, whose hard work has shown time and time again. No one has dominated the women tennis like Navratilova and Graf did and that was such a long time back. People need a prominent figure who takes her game seriously and does not try to find rhythm while swinging in and out of the courts. We need someone consistent, someone whose play deserves it all. And if there is one contender who comes close, it will have to be Sharapova in her current form.