Since she won Wimbledon (2004) at just 17 years old, Maria Sharapova’s future aimed to be a lightning movie, full of direct serves, short exchanges and fair mobility for the competition. Watching her win the US Open (2006) and the Australian Open (2008) confirmed where her shots would go, until precisely that season she forced him to undergo surgery after destroying his shoulder. Those nine months away from the circuit forever changed her identity, taking away her explosiveness on fast courts in exchange for other virtues that made her smile in slow motion.
It is true that the Russian accustomed us to showing a superlative level in all the Grand Slams, regardless of the conditions in which they were played, but Roland Garros was always the most hostile barrier when it came to jumping. One season she reached the semi-finals, but she never had a strong enough candidacy to reach Paris as a favorite for the title. His origins – far from the clay courts – and his game pattern – hitting and walking forward – marked a trajectory with a strong allergy for the red courts, but of course, no one could intuit that that operation in 2008 would turn the game around. tale.
The transformation, as in 99% of cases, began off the slopes. “When you start spending a little more time in the gym than usual, because you’re not playing tournaments, it gives you the opportunity to develop your leg strength and overall strength, which was very important for me,” Sharapova commented years later about her metamorphosis. “Over the years you learn what your body can handle, what you need and what the path is to recover better. I went little by little, I knew I was incapable of lifting 50-pound weights, so I set small goals for myself. During those dates I developed some muscles a lot, feeling more explosive every day.”
A PROCESS OF MANY YEARS
It’s not that his arsenal of weapons changed radically, new tools simply appeared to address those ghosts that made him lose confidence on brick dust. Her better physics meant multiplying her comfort when stepping on slow surfaces, a combination that led her directly to cross the door of history. Maria would reach the final of Roland Garros three consecutive seasons, between 2012 and 2014. She won the first against Sara Errani, lost the second against Serena Williams and reconquered the throne against Simona Halep. The whole world was fascinated by the conversion of the Niagan player, although there was a municipality in Spain where they had been waiting for that moment for a long time.
We are talking about Juan Carlos Ferrero’s Equelite Academy, in Villena, a regular place where Sharapova went without fail between 2003 and 2012 to prepare for clay court tours. “When I first came to the Juan Carlos Academy, he was the best player in the world on clay, so I thought that here I would improve my game on this surface,” recalls the former world No. 1 about his experience. “For years, Juan Carlos had been repeating to me his belief that, with small adjustments in my game, I could win Roland Garros. Honestly, I think that not many other people thought about this at that time. Complete the Grand Slam by winning in Paris and also Being number one again meant fulfilling a goal, as well as a great dream.”
We had to see her with the cup in her hand to realize that her performance on the Parisian clay had not been a disaster either, but that it simply was not as good as in the other majors. In fact, Sharapova would end her career by participating in Roland Garros fourteen times, reaching the second week of the tournament in twelve of them. Only in the year of her debut, in the 2003 season, did she go home in the first round. That is why her title in 2012 did not represent such a revolution… especially because of her in that event she stood after winning Stuttgart, making the quarterfinals in Madrid and becoming champion in Rome. At 25 years old, Sharapova became the tenth woman in history to complete the Grand Slam.
The curious thing would come later. The Russian not only unlocked the Roland Garros box later than the rest of her, but it would be in that tournament where she was going to leave her greatest professional mark. Her road to the title in 2014 remains memorable, full of bumps, comebacks and an epic three-hour outcome against Simona Halep in the grand final. “If someone had told me at any point in my career that I would have more titles in Paris than in any other Grand Slam, I would probably have gotten drunk […] Or I would have told them that they are drunk, one or the other (laughs). My beginnings with this surface were very ugly, I went through a long learning process where I had to improve a lot physically. I really came to think that I would never have the slightest chance of achieving it if I did not manage to improve in that aspect,” acknowledges the five-time Grand Slam champion.
TERRICOLA NUMBERS
In a career that spanned from 2001 to 2020, Maria Sharapova had time to win 36 individual titles, 11 of them on clay in 13 finals played. She only missed Madrid and Roland Garros in 2013, both against Serena, but the important fact comes next. Of her first 18 conquests, none happened on brick dust. Of her last 15 trophies, ten came on the red surface. Two statistics that are only understood if they are read together, responding to the variation of a dynamic that practically transmuted her career.
Sharapova, that girl who was on the verge of being left-handed, the one who did not know how to slide on clay, hung up her racket with a balance of 56-12 at Roland Garros, thus obtaining a winning percentage of 82%. The success rate is greater than that of any other Grand Slams, even though Paris is the major that she has played the fewest times. That didn’t stop him from being the only one to conquer twice.
2024-05-23 06:30:00
#Maria #Sharapovas #transformation #clay
