(When) Will Sharapova Solve Her Serve?
The future of Maria Sharapova’s career will hinge on whether she can truly find her serve again. Sharapova lost a tight, tough, but not terribly well-played match, on Monday to Number One seed, Caroline Wozniacki, in the round of 16 of the 2010 U.S. Open 6-3, 6-4.
Sharapova made a lot of unforced errors, 36 to be exact compared to 32 winners. In contrast, Wozniacki had 16 winners and only 10 unforced errors. Sharapova only won one of nine break point chances, but Maria lost the match because she's STILL struggling with her serve.
Sharapova had 2 aces, but double faulted 9 times and they came in bunches, as did her groundstroke errors. It's clearly "a thing" at this point and has been for more than a year. Sharapova is serving better than a year ago in that she can hit some great first serves and seems to be serving on average a bit faster. However, Maria’s serve just “goes off” at different times in almost all her matches and it has for more than a year. The problem appears to be a combination of technique, timing and rhythm problems, as well as a lack of confidence. However, considering how Maria has suffered through a shoulder injury and serving problems for the past couple years, it's not surprising that she'd struggle at times during a big match such as this one in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Sharapova missed many groundstrokes, but it's hard not to think that being distracted by serving woes wasn't a major cause of all the other errors. It was tough to even watch at times because one remembers/knows how well Sharapova served for years.
Sharapova’s game is predicated on “first strike tennis” to gain control of the rally from a penetrating serve or forcing serve return. When Sharapova inexplicably hits a couple double faults in a row to lose her serve as she did in the first set, that is a stark contrast to another game in which she hits several powerful first serves and thereby controls the rallies. "First strike tennis" was the game Sharapova rode to three Grand Slam titles. If she hopes to win another one in the future, then Maria must solve her service issues as soon as possible. There’s no question that Sharapova can return to her old form, but the longer she struggles, the harder it will become to return to the winners’ circle at a Grand Slam.
Sharapova had 2 aces, but double faulted 9 times and they came in bunches, as did her groundstroke errors. It's clearly "a thing" at this point and has been for more than a year. Sharapova is serving better than a year ago in that she can hit some great first serves and seems to be serving on average a bit faster. However, Maria’s serve just “goes off” at different times in almost all her matches and it has for more than a year. The problem appears to be a combination of technique, timing and rhythm problems, as well as a lack of confidence. However, considering how Maria has suffered through a shoulder injury and serving problems for the past couple years, it's not surprising that she'd struggle at times during a big match such as this one in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Sharapova missed many groundstrokes, but it's hard not to think that being distracted by serving woes wasn't a major cause of all the other errors. It was tough to even watch at times because one remembers/knows how well Sharapova served for years.
Sharapova’s game is predicated on “first strike tennis” to gain control of the rally from a penetrating serve or forcing serve return. When Sharapova inexplicably hits a couple double faults in a row to lose her serve as she did in the first set, that is a stark contrast to another game in which she hits several powerful first serves and thereby controls the rallies. "First strike tennis" was the game Sharapova rode to three Grand Slam titles. If she hopes to win another one in the future, then Maria must solve her service issues as soon as possible. There’s no question that Sharapova can return to her old form, but the longer she struggles, the harder it will become to return to the winners’ circle at a Grand Slam.
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