Sharapova Starting to Serve Notice?
At the Toray Pan Pacific in Tokyo, Maria Sharapova won her first title in her post-shoulder surgery comeback and first tournament win since April, 2008 when Jelena Jankovic retired down 5-2 in the first set. In a way, it was fitting for Sharapova to collect the first title of her comeback in Tokyo where she won her first pro title in 2003. Sharapova has climbed
back up to 15th in the rankings which is an accomplishment considering that her season didn’t start until May and she lost in the second round at Wimbledon and third round at the U.S. Open.
Sharapova had struggled with her serve in all nine tournaments she’s played in 2009 although in Tokyo she finally seemed to be finding her service rhythm again. Maria has returned to a full service motion from the abbreviated style she had been using all spring and summer to reduce the stress on her shoulder. She has also adjusted the overall timing and rhythm of the serve, her foot placement, etc. Clearly, Maria was able to refocus after her disappointing loss to Melanie Oudin at the U.S. Open and made significant headway towards improving her serve in the past few weeks. The results are impressive so far, but time will tell whether she can continue to improve the serve as she focuses on starting off 2010 strongly.
In the months ahead, Sharapova will need to reduce the double faults a bit more while also producing enough strong, first serves to set up the rallies for her “first-strike” ground strokes. Maria seems to have had Grand Slam success in the even years winning Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. Could there be another Grand Slam title for Sharapova in 2010? Solidifying her serve over the next few months will be absolutely critical for Sharapova to have a chance to win another Slam title next year. The field will be even more competitive in 2010 as Justine Henin joins Sharapova and fellow Belgian, Kim Clijsters, on the comeback trail.
Sharapova had struggled with her serve in all nine tournaments she’s played in 2009 although in Tokyo she finally seemed to be finding her service rhythm again. Maria has returned to a full service motion from the abbreviated style she had been using all spring and summer to reduce the stress on her shoulder. She has also adjusted the overall timing and rhythm of the serve, her foot placement, etc. Clearly, Maria was able to refocus after her disappointing loss to Melanie Oudin at the U.S. Open and made significant headway towards improving her serve in the past few weeks. The results are impressive so far, but time will tell whether she can continue to improve the serve as she focuses on starting off 2010 strongly.
In the months ahead, Sharapova will need to reduce the double faults a bit more while also producing enough strong, first serves to set up the rallies for her “first-strike” ground strokes. Maria seems to have had Grand Slam success in the even years winning Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. Could there be another Grand Slam title for Sharapova in 2010? Solidifying her serve over the next few months will be absolutely critical for Sharapova to have a chance to win another Slam title next year. The field will be even more competitive in 2010 as Justine Henin joins Sharapova and fellow Belgian, Kim Clijsters, on the comeback trail.
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