Serena Williams proud of her record vs. Maria Sharapova
MELBOURNE, Australia – Ten years ago, match points on her racket, a 17-year-old Maria Sharapova could only watch as Serena Williams belted two winners by her deep in the third set of their Australian Open semifinal.
A decade later and with 14 more matches between them, Sharapova has never held a match point against Williams again.
Saturday in Melbourne, the world's top two ranked women's tennis players will meet for the 19th time as the American chases her 19th Grand Slam title.
It's the marquee matchup of female stars of this generation, yet Sharapova hasn't come out on top against Williams since 2004, compiling a 2-16 head-to-head record overall.
"The only thing I remember is (my) inside-out forehand on match point," Williams recalls of that 2-6, 7-5, 8-6 come-from-behind classic. "I hit it and I walked to the next side as if I knew it was already going to be a winner."
It was the match that turned the tide of what looked to be tennis' modern-day version of great rivalries following in line with Martina Navratilova vs. Chris Evert and Steffi Graf vs. Monica Seles. Instead, it's become an embarrassingly lopsided affair for Sharapova, who has her own memory of that 2005 defeat.
"It was a very physical battle," says the Russian, now 27. "(I) definitely had a lot of chances, but it was a really tough one to lose."
Now, knocking on the door of her sixth Grand Slam title, can the Russian overcome an opponent who has held firmly her card for the last 10 years? If so, it would be perhaps the biggest moment of Sharapova's already storied career.
A torrid affair
"The irony of this tournament is this is where the bugaboo really started," says Pam Shriver, the former player who now commentates on TV. "That loss set the table for the last 10 years of the rivalry. Maria has not recovered. It's the one thing that has gnawed at her."
It's no secret that Williams and Sharapova aren't friends; they never have been. Sharapova has kept to herself on tour, first with her father and then with small teams of three or four, while the Williams clan is famously insular, Venus and Serena always at one another's side. In recent years, Williams' social circle has grown to include fellow top player Caroline Wozniacki.
While Serena Williams raced towards history over the past decade, culminating with her 18th Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open last year, Sharapova has won four more majors since her breakthrough at Wimbledon in 2004, a final in which she shocked Williams in straight sets.
But the losses against Williams have piled up for Sharapova, a rivalry that during one stretch she struggled to win games in.
"The belief is down," says Martina Navratilova, who now coaches world No. 6 Agnieszka Radwanska. "You cannot be human and think that she doesn't have doubts after being beaten so many times in a row."
It's a head-to-head tally not lost on Williams.
"I take a lot of pride in it," she says. "I think my game matches up well against her. I love playing her. I think it's fun. I love her intensity. … I just have the time of my life."
The long way back
Few players are gifted with the athletic prowess that has helped Williams dominate the women's game. She has the best serve, arguably the best return and does everything else, well, perhaps better than everyone else.
But "anything is possible" against the 33-year-old world No. 1, says coach Nick Bollettieri, who has coached both of the finalists.
"Sometimes in life people sort of have a (hex) on you," Bollettieri says, "but you can't let yourself think on that. You have to go out and know what you're capable of doing. Maria's game is very simple: go for it."
It's not all that simple, at least not if Sharapova wants to successfully overcome an opponent who has owned her in the past.
"When Maria's performed badly she'll get behind in a rally and she panics and then tries to hit down the line," explains Craig O'Shannessy, a strategy analyst for the WTA, among other tennis entities. "One of the things that Maria can't do is try and change the direction of the ball when she's on defense. There are just too many errors when she's attempting a defensive change of direction."
The key when looking at the X's and O's, O'Shaughnessy says, is about finding the smallest of weaknesses in Williams' armor and exploiting them.
"The more Maria can hit behind Serena, the better," he says. "What you want to do against Serena is make her stop, re-start and go in a different direction from where she came from. That's a big factor. It's wrong-footing Serena. That's far better than having her run into the open court."
Brad Gilbert, a former player and now a TV analyst, says it'll take some help from Williams, as well.
"Maria needs a perfect storm," Gilbert says. "Serena now is going to be 34 this year and occasionally has some days where she is not at her best. Maria needs that. Maria needs to be at absolutely 100 percent, hitting drives 380 yards down the fairway and has to hope that Serena is a little off. If they're both punching the elevator to the top floor, Maria isn't winning."
Digging deepest
While Sharapova has won dozens if not hundred of matches, it's her intensity that distinguishes her game.
"I think she's been fighting throughout all those years, through everything that is in her way, jumped all the hurdles and all the obstacles," says Grigor Dimitrov, Sharapova's boyfriend and the world No. 11 on the men's tour. "(She's) by far the greatest fighter ever."
"Maria's gone through this Open with such determination," adds Stacey Allaster, CEO of the WTA Tour. "There's a nice rivalry between them even though the head-to-head is not there. Maria says that you have to win for there to be a rivalry. This will be good drama."
Earlier in this tournament, Tomas Berdych broke a 17-match losing streak to Rafael Nadal, one that dated nearly 10 years. It was a win that – even from the wings – gives Sharapova hope that what she'll try to do here isn't impossible.
"You know, she's great at making players hit that shot that you don't necessarily have to go for," Sharapova says. "It's been a really difficult matchup for me, but… I am a competitor. I will go out and do everything I can to try to change that result around."
Billie Jean King sums it up: "It just gets down to when the bell rings. There's no secrets: Can Maria execute better when she needs to?"
Crossing the finish line
What Sharapova couldn't do in that 2005 Australian Open match – win the final point – she hopes to do here this weekend. It's something many in tennis don't doubt will happen … at some point.
"I think she'll beat Serena this year," says Shriver, who commentates for ESPN. "I don't know if that will be here or where it will be, but I think that will happen."
Sharapova, of course, hopes it's Saturday. After saving two match points in the second round, she's scorched through her next four matches, losing just 17 games in total.
"I felt that I've had really good matches and a good record here in Australia," Sharapova notes. She's 48-10 at Melbourne Park in her career.
"I've had many great memories on Rod Laver Arena. I've hopefully set myself up for another good one."
Do either Williams or Sharapova dream of lofting the Daphne Akhurst Trophy?
"I did in the first couple rounds because I wasn't playing great," says Williams, who has won here five times. "I thought, 'Just think of the end, think of the end.' And I'm still here, so let's see."
Not Sharapova, who has learned — against Williams — that seeing is believing.
"I don't dream too much about tennis, thankfully," she says.