World No1 through in straight sets on Centre Court, winning 6-2, 6-4. Serena Williams will face Spaniard Garbiñe Muguruza in Saturday’s final
As feisty afterwards as she had been in enduring another public hammering against a rival with whom she shares mutual respect but little warmth, she rejected suggestions – daft ones during an uncomfortable press conference – that she either change her baseline strategy or even look for a new coach.
“I’m not going to come out and become a serve-and-volleyer or a chip-and-charge type of player. No, you’re not going to see that from me,” the Russian said after Williams had beaten her 6-2, 6-4, with only the hint of parity near the end.
She seethed when asked to respond to David Cameron’s remarks that women players should wear earplugs to block out the screeching that plagues the women’s game, with Sharapova among the chief culprits. “Next question, please,” she said through pursed lips. She would probably give Cameron a run for his money at prime minister’s questions.
There was further awkwardness when Sharapova was reminded that Williams’s coach, Patrick Mouratoglou – whom she pointed out here two years ago had left his family for Serena – said Victoria Azarenka was a better player than her. “I don’t think you’re ever going to hear nice words from him about me,” she said. “I don’t expect that, and I’m sure you don’t either.” If the match had been tough, this was an ordeal she probably could have done without. “Maybe if I was British, a semi-final would be incredible,” she said to weak laughter. “I’d be on the front page of the paper.” It did not get any more cordial than that.
Williams, meanwhile, is in fine spirits. With her long-time friend, the musician Drake, again sitting among the journalists and smiling from start to finish, she looked relaxed and sharp, ready to introduce the young Spaniard Garbiñe Muguruza to the realities of elite competition at the highest level in Saturday’s’s final.
She said of the Canadian rapper’s presence: “It’s all about luck. You got to keep your luck around. We’ve been friends for like so many years, just like family. Kind of like we’re on a streak right now. We got to do this.”
Williams, meanwhile, is in fine spirits. With her long-time friend, the musician Drake, again sitting among the journalists and smiling from start to finish, she looked relaxed and sharp, ready to introduce the young Spaniard Garbiñe Muguruza to the realities of elite competition at the highest level in Saturday’s’s final.
She said of the Canadian rapper’s presence: “It’s all about luck. You got to keep your luck around. We’ve been friends for like so many years, just like family. Kind of like we’re on a streak right now. We got to do this.”
But it is harder than she makes it sound, and she does not lack for motivation – especially against Sharapova, who beat her to win the title when a teenager in 2004 and has won only five sets in 18 matches against her since. Williams gives the impression she would happily play her morning, noon and night.
Every time Williams looks across the net and sees Sharapova staring back she surely thinks to herself: “You’re the queen off the court. This is my place – and it always will be.” The American didn’t face a single break point.
It is the rivalry that isn’t. It’s a serial nightmare for the Russian, an opportunity for Williams to show who is, by a distance, the finest player in women’s tennis since Steffi Graf and in all likelihood, crowned the very best of them all before she retires. She should also be the owner of 21 slam titles by late Saturday afternoon – one behind the German – if, as universally expected, she dismantles the No20 seed, Muguruza, to win her sixthWimbledon final, having lifted the trophy in 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010 and 2012.
Sharapova, the highest-earning female athlete in the world, loses to Williams whether she plays well or not, and she was rarely more than a bystander as the world No1 took her apart in front of a lightly baked audience as embarrassed as they were unsurprised.
Williams has won $6,175,648 in prize money this year, nearly three times as much as Sharapova. Over her career, she has won $69,676,428 – nearly twice as much as Sharapova. Yet each time they meet it is an event. There is not a weirder duality in sport.
In every facet of the game, the American was dominant. As Sharapova struggled to even get her ball-toss right, Williams banged down ace after ace, 13 to go with 68 already collected in getting this far, and 29 winners to nine.
Sharapova led on serve in the second set but it was an illusion. Once Williams found her rhythm, the hammering resumed. Facing break point in the fifth game, she double-faulted – her 43rd of the tournament – and the match was all but done. The hum that rattled around the stadium was one of barely contained pity.
She gained brief hope with a couple of points on the Williams serve, but, as loud as she shrieked, as fiercely as her eyes blazed, she could not sustain the charge. She tried, nonetheless, as she always does – all the way to the grim end.
Serving to stay in the championships, she battled to deuce, double-faulted, saved match point and held through two deuce points. A lot of players would dissolve in such circumstances. A lot of players aren’t Maria Sharapova.
But she could only swish in vain as Williams’s concluding ace flew past her like a bullet. And there were precious few missiles that had gone the other way. For Sharapova, it was a sadly familiar story.
Every time Williams looks across the net and sees Sharapova staring back she surely thinks to herself: “You’re the queen off the court. This is my place – and it always will be.” The American didn’t face a single break point.
It is the rivalry that isn’t. It’s a serial nightmare for the Russian, an opportunity for Williams to show who is, by a distance, the finest player in women’s tennis since Steffi Graf and in all likelihood, crowned the very best of them all before she retires. She should also be the owner of 21 slam titles by late Saturday afternoon – one behind the German – if, as universally expected, she dismantles the No20 seed, Muguruza, to win her sixthWimbledon final, having lifted the trophy in 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010 and 2012.
Sharapova, the highest-earning female athlete in the world, loses to Williams whether she plays well or not, and she was rarely more than a bystander as the world No1 took her apart in front of a lightly baked audience as embarrassed as they were unsurprised.
Williams has won $6,175,648 in prize money this year, nearly three times as much as Sharapova. Over her career, she has won $69,676,428 – nearly twice as much as Sharapova. Yet each time they meet it is an event. There is not a weirder duality in sport.
In every facet of the game, the American was dominant. As Sharapova struggled to even get her ball-toss right, Williams banged down ace after ace, 13 to go with 68 already collected in getting this far, and 29 winners to nine.
Sharapova led on serve in the second set but it was an illusion. Once Williams found her rhythm, the hammering resumed. Facing break point in the fifth game, she double-faulted – her 43rd of the tournament – and the match was all but done. The hum that rattled around the stadium was one of barely contained pity.
She gained brief hope with a couple of points on the Williams serve, but, as loud as she shrieked, as fiercely as her eyes blazed, she could not sustain the charge. She tried, nonetheless, as she always does – all the way to the grim end.
Serving to stay in the championships, she battled to deuce, double-faulted, saved match point and held through two deuce points. A lot of players would dissolve in such circumstances. A lot of players aren’t Maria Sharapova.
But she could only swish in vain as Williams’s concluding ace flew past her like a bullet. And there were precious few missiles that had gone the other way. For Sharapova, it was a sadly familiar story.
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