Maria Sharapova vs Serena Williams XXI was just as predictable and quite frankly as boring as the rest of them. It has been nearly 13 years since the Russian has defeated the world number one and that was when she was 17 years old. When Serena claimed victory for seemingly the millionth time in a row on Tuesday, the same question that has plagued this match up for years was once again asked: Why can’t Sharapova beat Serena?
The American is undoubtedly the better player. Serena is one of the greatest of all time (if not THE greatest) in the women’s game. 21 grand slam titles and counting the American is playing some of the best tennis of her life. At 34 years old she is still the dominant player in the world and would beat anyone more often than not.
But the case of Sharapova is quite frankly alarming. Over 11 years a go, a 17 year old Russian burst on the scene at Wimbledon, upsetting Williams for the title. She backed that up with another victory at the Tour Championships that year- Sharapova has not won a match against Serena since.
This is a player that has won five grand slam titles and been number one in the world- she is elite. However these days it feels like an amateur player has a better chance to beat Serena than Sharapova.
Now, no head to head record like this one is without a match-up issue. Firstly Serena serves better than anyone in the history of women’s tennis and it provides massive problems for an aggressive returner like Sharapova. Serena can serve hard, precise and with spin that makes it almost impossible to attack.
The comfortable nature in which the word number one holds her serve puts greater pressure on the Sharapova serve, which as we have seen, is prone to double faults. That pressure added to the way Serena dispatches second serves means even more double faults. Sharapova hit seven in her Quarter Final match against the world number one.
The Russian also primarily plays a power game from the baseline which plays right into Serena’s strength. Few players can match the power of the American and Sharapova is not one of them. She can not play her normal game against Williams and expect to be successful.
Garbine Muguruza, who plays a fairly similar game to Sharapova, troubles Serena every time they play. Why is that? Because she alters her game plan accordingly. In her 6-2 6-2 victory over the world number at the French Open in 2014, Muguruza hit with power but down the middle of the court and deep, not giving Serena angles and forcing either an error or short ball to put away. For Sharapova to win playing with her normal style, she must hope for an off day from her opponent or play the match of her life.
Finally, despite all the match up issues, the main reason why Sharapova can’t beat Serena is belief. The Russian is one of the best fighters on tour, but that just never seems to be there against Serena. You don’t see that fire, that grit and that determination that has won her so many matches. If one doesn’t believe that they will beat their opponent, then that person has lost before they have even struck a ball and that might be the case with this match-up.
There is not a more ‘never in doubt’ match-up at the top of the game and for that to change anytime soon, Sharapova must seriously re-assess her game and believe she can topple Serena.
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