The truth is that Sharapova went down entirely without a fight. In her parting press conference, Sharapova stated that everything is entirely different in the host country.
When asked if she was pleased at least to make a Wimbledon semi-final, she said:
“Maybe if I was British, a semi-final would be incredible. I’d be on the front page of the paper. But I expect myself to be a champion of these events, and it’s disappointing to come out as a loser because I know my level can be at the point of holding these championship trophies.”
The truth is, the Russian’s level was nowhere sufficient to hold up the trophy here. Had she not taken so long lingering over her serve, had she not loitered in the repetitive compulsive tics of her little dances, the endless bouncing of the ball before she finally hits it, she would have been back in the locker room in under an hour.
This defeat means that since 2005, Williams has now beaten her 17 times without reply; in the last 10 encounters, Sharapova has managed to accrue just the one set.
Billed as a grudge match, the love rivalry, the soap opera script of mutual disdain, this was a struggle far more intriguing in the build-up than in the delivery. As feuds go, this was so one-sided; it was less a competition than a procession.
“It’s been a long time since I got this far in the tournament,” said Williams after her win. “It wasn’t easy out there. It was interesting.”
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| Serena Williams is chasing a 21st grand-slam title (Getty Images) |
The truth is, the Russian’s level was nowhere sufficient to hold up the trophy here. Had she not taken so long lingering over her serve, had she not loitered in the repetitive compulsive tics of her little dances, the endless bouncing of the ball before she finally hits it, she would have been back in the locker room in under an hour.
This defeat means that since 2005, Williams has now beaten her 17 times without reply; in the last 10 encounters, Sharapova has managed to accrue just the one set.
Billed as a grudge match, the love rivalry, the soap opera script of mutual disdain, this was a struggle far more intriguing in the build-up than in the delivery. As feuds go, this was so one-sided; it was less a competition than a procession.
“It’s been a long time since I got this far in the tournament,” said Williams after her win. “It wasn’t easy out there. It was interesting.”
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| Sharapova struggled on her serve again |
Not so easy for Sharapova?
Williams made this look more straightforward than the Fosse Way, so simple it was like, well, facing Maria Sharapova. This was less a challenge than an invitation to proceed serenely towards her 21st grand slam title, with the Russian politely opening the door.
Not that Sharapova could be faulted for her effort. She started at full throttle. In the press box, one reporter had downloaded a decibel reader app that told us that in the first game of this encounter, the scale of her shriek varied from 52 decibels – the equivalent of traffic noise – to 78 – an alarm clock.
Williams, though, was not perturbed by the tedious aural gamesmanship. She had the first game won against her opponent’s serve without anything approaching a rally. She simply attacked the Russian with a fearful intensity, blazing the ball constantly out of reach. And then when Williams herself served, the “ooh” of awed astonishment that spread round the crowd when the speed gun recorded one missile at 122mph indicated the scale of the challenge.
Sharapova, lacking the pace across the court to keep up with Williams’s enormous range of shots, spent much of the rest of the set marooned on the baseline, watching the ball fly by well out of reach. Yet when she did not try to match her American nemesis blow for blow, whack for whack, she looked as if she could actually achieve something approaching parity. A rare excursion to the net midway through the first set produced a beautifully weighted drop winner. Another drop shot, at the end of a sequence of boom-whacked baseline thrashes, left Williams flat-footed. This was how Heather Watson had discomfited Williams, by her unpredictability.
Not that Sharapova could be faulted for her effort. She started at full throttle. In the press box, one reporter had downloaded a decibel reader app that told us that in the first game of this encounter, the scale of her shriek varied from 52 decibels – the equivalent of traffic noise – to 78 – an alarm clock.
On the Williams Part
Williams, though, was not perturbed by the tedious aural gamesmanship. She had the first game won against her opponent’s serve without anything approaching a rally. She simply attacked the Russian with a fearful intensity, blazing the ball constantly out of reach. And then when Williams herself served, the “ooh” of awed astonishment that spread round the crowd when the speed gun recorded one missile at 122mph indicated the scale of the challenge.
Sharapova, lacking the pace across the court to keep up with Williams’s enormous range of shots, spent much of the rest of the set marooned on the baseline, watching the ball fly by well out of reach. Yet when she did not try to match her American nemesis blow for blow, whack for whack, she looked as if she could actually achieve something approaching parity. A rare excursion to the net midway through the first set produced a beautifully weighted drop winner. Another drop shot, at the end of a sequence of boom-whacked baseline thrashes, left Williams flat-footed. This was how Heather Watson had discomfited Williams, by her unpredictability.
