Tennis Panorama Archives

Archives of TennisPanorama.com 2008-2013

TennisPanorama.com 2008-2013
  • Home
  • Tennis Panorama
You are here: Home / Features / Sharapova Survives Safarova in Three Hour Battle in Stuttgart

Sharapova Survives Safarova in Three Hour Battle in Stuttgart

April 25, 2013 By Tennis Panorama News

Maria Sharapova with media

By Tumaini Carayol

 

(April 25, 2013) STUTTGART – Wednesday afternoon, Maria Sharapova could be found in the Porsche Arena, practicing on court two. Pitted against a young male German junior, the French Open champion was in devastating form.

 

A brief set of points saw the Russian so dominant over her opponent that coach Tomas Hogstedt found himself continually bursting unto sporadic laughter at the sheer brutality of his charge against this nameless child. More relevant still was the manner in which Sharapova moved around the ball during her practice session – skipping around the ball with precise, quick and measured footwork.

 

Twenty four hours later, the Russian’s game had descended. In place of the silky footwork and assured movement around the court was a sluggish, labored attempt at moving into position and navigating the clay, and the confident and supreme ball striking had been substituted for a copious amount of errors – 46 in total.

 

Still, she advanced. It may have taken over three hours, but she advanced over Lucie Safarova 6–4, 6–7(3), 6-3.

 

“I played a really good opponent that’s had tremendous results on a claycourt,” she said later. “I think this is one of her favorite surfaces. And in general she’s not an easy player to play against. I needed to be ready and no matter how I played today, I’m just happy to have got through this match.”

 

In that would have seemed laughable half a decade ago, her face lit up when discussing her new preference for red clay, a surface she has amassed an impressive 42-6 record on since her return from shoulder surgery and, for various reasons, has unarguably become her best surface by a considerable distance.

 

“Over the years I’ve really started to enjoy it,” she smiled. “I used to dread practicing the weeks the before. The movement and the preparation – I really enjoy that now. Before it used to be a bit physical and quite difficult (…) but now I’m really quite comfortable on it.”

 

There may not have appeared to be much love lost between Sharapova and red clay today in the messy heat of battle, but somewhere in Stuttgart is a junior still nursing deep mental wounds from the uncompromising beating he received at the hands of the reigning French Open champion. He’ll agree.

 

Tumaini Carayol is in Stuttgart covering the Stuttgart tournament for Tennis Panorama News. He is a contributing writer at On The Baseline, and writes about professional tennis at his site Foot Fault.

Filed Under: Features, Front Page News, news conference, tennis news, tournament coverage, tournaments Tagged With: Lucie Safarova, Maria Sharapova, Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Stuttgart, tennis, tennis news, Tennis Panorama News, Tomas Hogstedt, Tumaini Carayol, WTA

Archives

  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • March 2009
  • December 2008

Copyright © 2022 · Metro Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in